ST. PAUL, Minn. — Zeev Buium is a lot of things.
A two-time world junior gold medalist.
A national champion.
A former Hobey Baker finalist.
But right now?
“I’m the trash guy,” the Wild’s touted prospect said, smiling.
Buium, 19, has been living at Matt Boldy’s place since arriving in the Twin Cities at the end of July. Boldy, 24, is paying it forward after Jordan Greenway did the same thing for him when he broke into the league four years ago. It can help with the transition from college hockey, a big part of which comes off the ice. The routine. The schedule. The food. Boldy joked that “there’s only so much UberEats” you can order. So Boldy has been doing most of the cooking and cleaning, giving Buium rides to the rink. They’ve bonded over rounds of golf and heated ping pong matches. Buium’s main chore has been taking out the garbage.
“I’m trying to give him more responsibility,” Boldy said. “Sent him to the grocery store the other day. I got a couple pictures, making sure he was getting the right things. But it’s been great to have him around. He’s been awesome.”
Buium’s responsibilities on the ice will be more significant when the Wild open the season Thursday in St. Louis. The smooth-skating defenseman is expected to quarterback the top power play and be on the second pair with captain Jared Spurgeon.
Buium made his NHL debut against the Vegas Golden Knights during the playoffs in the spring, but he said he was more nervous for September’s preseason debut. He needed to prove himself, earn a spot. And learn how to be himself in the NHL. After a couple of shaky games, he felt like things came together in the second-to-last exhibition, against the Winnipeg Jets.
“I’m out of that phase of the ‘Wow’ and being amazed by everything and everyone,” Buium said. “I’m a little more settled down and feel confident going in and understanding that I can do this. Really be a helper. I wasn’t happy with my first two games. (The Jets game) was back to being me. What I want to do.
“And it was everything.”
To prepare for this moment, Buium started in the summer by working out with long-time trainer Chris Phillips in Southern California, putting on more than 10 pounds. He arrived early in Minnesota in late July to start working with teammates and Wild support staff. Buium moved in with Boldy, explored the area and tried to reach a comfort level around the veterans. And after exhibitions, Buium would watch video with associate coach Jack Capuano, going over what he needed to improve on. Coach John Hynes said Buium is very much still a “work in progress,” but teammates are very excited for what they believe can be their next game-breaker.
“He’s as special as they get,” Brock Faber said. “I’ve never seen a skater so gifted on his edges. The way he moves is so shifty, it’s unbelievable to watch. It’s like one of those Quinn Hughes or Lane Hutson — every time someone goes out on them, they have to proceed with caution because they can beat them so easily. That’s something I haven’t seen very often at all..
“It’s not going to be perfect. But he’s got the skill level, the commitment and mindset to take this step and really excel early.”
What Buium learned in his four-game foray into the NHL playoffs could fill a book.
How much faster things are.
How every mistake is magnified.
How “you probably shouldn’t try to dangle (Mark) Stone at the blue line,” Buium said.
“It’s just another level.”
And Buium started his focus on getting his body ready for a grueling 82-game season. His skating and offensive instincts, teammates said, were already at NHL level. But to be able to defend in his own zone and body up, Buium wanted to add layers of strength — without losing any of his speed. Buium trusted Phillips, the former Anaheim Ducks athletic trainer who has trained him and his older brother, Shai, since Buium was 12.
Buium joined Shai, a Detroit Red Wings prospect, and a group of pros on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 a.m., for two hours in the gym with Phillips. Then they’d lift on their own. Monday and Thursday were mostly lower-body, and Tuesday and Friday upper-body. If they came on Wednesdays, it’d be about mobility and flexibility, with the focus on staying healthy over an 82-game season.
Buium wanted to add strength but not necessarily by Olympic lifting. He wanted the weight he added to be distributed through his entire body. Single-leg strength was prioritized through split squats, single-leg squats and skater squats.
“In NHL size, he’s not the biggest kid in the world,” said Phillips, who runs Compete Sports Performance. “He’s going to have to battle guys. We do a lot of things where guys are in split positions, positions that they’ll be out on the ice and having to hold a stick and then the other guy’s battling with them and trying to knock him over and he’s got to stay upright and stay balanced.
“The big thing is like you’ve got to be strong and stable, not necessarily bigger.”
Buium’s listed weight on the Wild’s roster went from 183 last season to 192, though Phillips said he started the summer a little lighter after a full college season, Frozen Four, NHL playoffs and the world championships. Phillips estimated Buim will max out probably 10 pounds heavier than this.
And Buium said that while “everyone knows the NHL is a different breed,” it was a delicate balance of training. He did more conditioning than he ever has, along with weights and better nutrition.
“I gained strength and speed,” he said. “I’m never going to put my body through something that makes me worse on the ice. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Every time I’m skating, I come back and I feel really good. I’m like, ‘Let’s keep doing that.’ I’m just trying to maintain all the strength I had while you’re gaining weight, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Shai was a sounding board, giving advice on how battles are different, how opposing players are built differently and the little things that matter on the ice.
“We’re always competitive,” Buium said. “We could be playing cards and we’re almost killing each other. It’s fun to be around him. We go to the gym and he grabs the 50 (pound dumbbell), I grab the 60.”
After the single-leg strength exercises, the group would move into the power phase with explosive workouts like plyometrics, jumping and resistance jumping, then into quick-feet work.
The good news for Buium, Phillips said, was that he’s a well-rounded athlete, so there wasn’t any main deficiency.
“We always joke around like, ‘LeBron James is a freak athlete — anybody can train him,'” Phillips said. “Obviously, you fine-tune these athletes and you do certain things with them, but there’s not a lot. We’ve been open 19 years. I spent 17 years abroad before we opened.
“You don’t see a lot of legit elite athletes, but (Buium) is one of them.”
As decorated as Buium was in his two years at the University of Denver, he started slow as a freshman.
“I didn’t explode out of the gates,” he said. “My second half is when I started to take off.”
Similarly, Buium didn’t feel great about his first couple of preseason games. It didn’t help that he got hurt in one of the first practices, taking a puck off the hand. Buium was turning the puck over too often and didn’t have confidence in his reads. Hynes noted Buium was exploring what he could do and couldn’t do at this level.
Then came the game against the Jets. Buium was a threat on the power play, dangling up top and sending a shot through a seam, which Kirill Kaprizov deflected in.
“It was finding that flow and confidence,” Buium said. “All I needed was that one game — ‘OK this is what works, this is what doesn’t.’ There are certain players you can’t do things against. … Those are things you can learn.
“I don’t like changing my game just because it’s a different league. I don’t want to just change it immediately. What if I can do those things?”
Oddly, it was more of a boost than even the playoffs.
“In the playoffs, coming up for me, it was challenging hockey-wise, but mentally, (the feeling was) ‘What does this team need?'” Buium said. “You want to show the coaching staff and teammates the kind of player you are. But at the same time, you’re going to play more conservatively because it’s the playoffs. Everything is too tight.
“Now the system is starting to come really easy. I understand where I need to be in the D-zone, playing in all situations.”
Spurgeon has been very communicative and helpful, and he also can be a security blanket in early-season games. Being consistent and not getting rattled will be Buium’s challenge, Faber said.
“When you’re young, you turn the puck over and it feels like it ends up in the back of your head,” Faber said. “That’s where you start to struggle. Thankfully, I had so many great teammates, and he does too. He’s going to be himself, and he’ll make mistakes. He’ll make a thousand amazing plays, but those mistakes, once you make them, if you can make 10 great plays, but you make one mistake, it’s in your head. That was a big adjustment.”
Buium already got a 17-day crash course on that in the playoffs, which included a Game 1 six-on-five turnover and a costly double minor in the third period in Game 4. In a game that could have given the Wild a 3-1 series lead, Vegas scored the tying goal during that double minor and eventually won in overtime. Buium blamed himself for the loss. Teammates have been impressed by the maturity he showed in handling that — and how much he’s looking to learn in camp.
Buium said he doesn’t want to be “just a guy out there.”
“I want to help the team win.”
“I think Zeev continues to be a work in progress,” Hynes said. “It’s understanding the defensive reads — that you’re not coming over the boards every time you step on the ice thinking you’re going to create something, right? You’ve got to let the game come to you. I think his pace has been better. I think his details have been better. I think he looks a little bit more comfortable in the power play.
“He’s a coachable player, and I think he’s understanding what he needs to do to be an everyday guy.”
Off the ice, teammates have helped Buium come out of his shell. His locker stall is next to Spurgeon’s and close to veterans Zach Bogosian and Marcus Foligno.
“Listen more than you talk — especially as a young guy, you don’t want to get too loud,” Buium said. “As time has gone on, I’ve felt more and more comfortable.”
He’s still living with Boldy but might move into Faber’s apartment building, though not in as large of a unit, Buium joked.
Not that Boldy’s rushing him. Other than garbage and grocery duties, there’s only one big thing he’s asking of Buium.
“I’ve got to pay it back one day,” Buium said.
Senior Writer, Wild & NHL