The Canucks Lock Up Zeev Buium Long-Term in Big Future Bet

Big news out of Vancouver: the Canucks just signed 20-year-old defenceman Zeev Buium to an eight-year extension worth $9.38 million a year. That's a lot of money for a player who is still so early in his NHL career, but it also tells us something clearly. Vancouver believes Buium is going to be a very good defenceman for a very long time.

GM Ryan Johnson isn't exactly playing it cool about this one. He sees Buium as a huge part of Vancouver's young core, and more than that, a guy the whole team can be built around. That's a lot of faith to put in someone who's still figuring out what NHL life is even like.

That's a Lot of Contract for a Player Who Only Has 76 Total NHL Games

And that's really the interesting part of this deal. Buium has played only 45 games for Vancouver since arriving in a trade last season, totalling 12 points and 33 penalty minutes. His NHL totals are 76 games and 26 points between Minnesota and Vancouver. Those aren't exactly eye-popping numbers. But then again, he's 20 years old. His first NHL action didn't even come until Minnesota's playoff run in 2025, when he played just four games.

The stats that really jump out actually happened before he ever played an NHL game. At Denver, Buium was dominant, racking up 98 points in 83 games across two seasons, posting a wild plus-50 rating, and helping the school win it all at the 2024 NCAA championship. And that's before you even get to his time with Team USA. He won gold at the U18S, back-to-back golds at the World Juniors, and gold again at the 2025 World Championship.

Buium Has Been Successful Everywhere He's Played

In other words, the kid has been winning pretty much everywhere he's played. The NHL is the one place where he hasn't quite put it all together yet. Minnesota took Buium 12th overall in 2024. Now Vancouver is making a big bet that the player we saw in Denver will eventually make it to the NHL. Eight years is a long time to commit to a 20-year-old, but that's the gamble. Pay him now, bet on the upside, and hope that eight years from now $9.38 million looks like a bargain for a top-pairing defenceman.

That's a pretty big vote of confidence from the Canucks. Now comes the fun part: finding out whether Buium can make them look smart.