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Should the Canucks make Zeev Buium an alternate captain next season?
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Mar 28, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 27, 2026, 16:05 EDT
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Let’s be clear. This isn’t a question being asked simply because he dropped the gloves and showed more fight than any of his teammates late in Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. But as the Vancouver Canucks struggle with the notion of rebuilding their roster and establishing a new locker room culture, it’s fair to ask whether Zeev Buium should wear a letter on his jersey as soon as next season.
Buium has already shown maturity well beyond his 20 years of age. He is poised, polished, and articulate. And he clearly exhibits plenty of on-ice confidence and potential that gives every indication the San Diego native will be a big part of the next core of the Canucks – whenever that group is truly established. And last night’s late-game scrap with Brandt Clarke was just the latest example that Buium cares deeply about being part of the solution here.
“You lose like that especially on home ice, it’s never fun,” Buium said postgame. “You see your teammates getting kind of jumped a little bit. They’re up 4-0 and I don’t think it necessarily needs to happen. I’m glad that we all stood up for each other.”
Now, naysayers will suggest it’s too soon to pin an A on Buium. That it would simply serve as added pressure, the young defencemen doesn’t need at this early stage of his development. 
But it’s clear the Canucks need to take a sledgehammer to their current leadership group that has too much attachment to the past failings of the hockey club. There are all sorts of uncertainties in this equation – no one knows who will be behind the bench or on the roster next season. So all of this is mere speculation at this stage. However, what isn’t up for debate is whether the Canucks will have a leadership group in some form or fashion. Of course, they will. Even if the team elects to go a full season without a captain, the club will still have a group of alternates, and it feels like Buium ought to be brought into that fold.
Look around the National Hockey League: Macklin Celebrini is just 19 and already wears a letter in San Jose. Like Buium, Connor Bedard is 20 and is poised to trade in his A to be the next captain in Chicago. But the list of young players already in leadership roles around the league goes much deeper than budding superstars like Celebrini and Bedard. Leo Carlsson (21) wears an A on occasion in Anaheim, Jake Sanderson and Jake Neighbours are both 23 and wear A’s in Ottawa and St. Louis respectively. Moritz Seider is 24 and has been firmly entrenched in Detroit’s leadership group for a couple of seasons now. So it’s not unprecedented to see youth served in leadership circles in other markets.
Young players come into this league now ready to lead.
Buium is a high achiever. He’s been a winner at a number of levels along his path to professional hockey. Putting an A on him doesn’t mean he needs to be the best player on the team. It’s empowering a young player to represent all the other young players on the roster in meetings with other leaders and the coaching staff. It’s recognizing that a change has to take place in a locker room that still carries significant baggage from years of dysfunction and underachieving.
If the Canucks commit to Buium on a long-term big money contract extension this summer as has been suggested in the market, then that decision lends itself to boosting the player’s profile within the team dynamic. If the Canucks feel that Buium is worthy of a six or eight year extension, then they are throwing their belief behind him. And that belief, in theory, will go much deeper than just financially. It seems natural that something like a letter on the jersey would – and should – follow in short order.
The Canucks have to recognize the importance of player development as they work their way out of the wilderness. And that can take on all sorts of forms. Yes, they need to continue to develop Buium into the elite on-ice product they hope he will one day become. But why not take the opportunity to develop his leadership skills from an early stage, too? Let him sit in on meetings. Let him chat with officials. Let him build his profile in the community.
Coming back with the same group of veteran leaders with the same voices and the same message makes absolutely no sense given the depths to which this organization has sunk this season. So make a change. Make a significant change. The Canucks want the fan base to embrace the youth. The organization should back its words up with action by stitching an A on Zeev Buium’s jersey for next season and let him spread his leadership wings. The old way hasn’t worked. Let the next wave lead from the front.

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