It’s been a turbulent 24 hours in Vancouver since the news broke Friday night that Canucks’ franchise cornerstone and team captain Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild.

On Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast Saturday, former Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa chimed in on the trade. And while he had a lot of thoughts on the “great return” from the Wild, he started by addressing the departure of Hughes and his impact on the team.

“His legacy in Vancouver will be that he raised the bar for Canucks’ defencemen,” Bieksa said. “The greatest defenceman ever, only Norris Trophy winner.”

Of course for Canucks fans, they’re much more interested in what they received than what they lost. And one big add in this trade was 20-year-old Zeev Buium. Drafted in 2024 and having only made his NHL debut this season, he’s a name many in Vancouver may not be familiar with, but Bieksa shared that he has been on the ice with him many times. From his perspective, Buium is a huge get for the team and in some ways a near replacement for Hughes.

“One of these new-age ultra-confident kids,” Bieksa said. “Not a kid who’s nervous, maybe tip-toeing. He wants to be on the ice 25 minutes a night, he wants to make plays. He’s a little bit bigger than Quinn, and he’s gonna defend pretty good and pretty hard. But his offensive upside, I mean how can you say someone’s gonna be like Quinn Hughes, but he’s gonna get pretty close. He’s gonna make Canucks fans forget about Quinn fairly quickly. I think this kid will be very interesting to watch, and I think you’ll see short-term results.”

Buium had three goals and 11 assists in 31 games with the Wild this season. He played two seasons of college hockey with the University of Denver, scoring 24 goals and tallying 98 points in 83 games played. He has also shown his offensive talents at the World Junior Championships, netting two goals and four assists at last year’s tournament. As Bieksa mentioned, he also brings size to the blue line, standing at 6’0 and 183 lb.

Along with fellow new-adds Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, Buium practiced with the Canucks on Saturday. The three look set to make their debut with Vancouver on Sunday against the New Jersey Devils.