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Canucks Bold Predictions: Zeev Buium bets on himself, tops 50 points and cashes in next summer

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Jeffrey Kennett

Aug 30, 2026, 15:11 EDT

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The Vancouver Canucks have a big decision to make on Zeev Buium.

At 20 years old, the defenceman has one year left on his entry-level contract and can sign an extension now. Vancouver would probably prefer to get a deal done before he has a chance to raise his price, but Buium may have other plans.

Our bold prediction is that Buium plays out the year, scores more than 50 points and positions himself for a seven-year extension worth over $10 million per season next summer.

That would be a huge jump from his 26-point rookie season, but the opportunity should be there. Here’s how it could happen:

A bigger role could lead to a big jump

His first NHL season was split between two very different situations.

Buium recorded three goals and 14 points in 31 games with the Minnesota Wild before coming to Vancouver as part of the Quinn Hughes trade in December. After the move, he added three goals and 12 points in 45 games, finishing the year with six goals and 26 points in 76 contests.

His overall usage increased after the trade, with his average ice time climbing from 18:28 per game in Minnesota to 20:21 with Vancouver, but power-play opportunities were a different story.

Nearly three minutes per game on the man advantage came Buium’s way with the Wild, compared with roughly 1:46 after joining the Canucks. He finished his rookie season with 10 power-play points, but only four came in Vancouver.

A more permanent spot on the first unit is one of the easiest ways to envision his production rising.

Filip Hronek and Tom Willander both received power-play looks last season, while Buium never fully took control of the top job. Heading into 2026-27, Manny Malhotra has plenty of reason to give one of the organization’s most important young players an extended chance as the quarterback.

The offensive resume certainly supports it.

Before turning pro, Buium was one of the most productive defencemen in college hockey. He recorded 50 points in 42 games during his freshman season at Denver before following it with another 48 points in 41 games as a sophomore. That second season included 13 goals and 35 assists and a Hobey Baker Award finalist nod.

Vancouver can theoretically provide much of the same opportunity on its top unit.

Hronek should continue carrying heavy minutes, but Buium has the highest offensive ceiling among the Canucks’ defencemen. Running a power-play unit with Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser would put him in a much better position to turn the flashes during his rookie season into more consistent production.

Getting from 26 points to 50 would still require a significant jump. There is, however, some precedent for reaching 50 points in a sophomore season.

Other defencemen have made the leap

Drew Doughty is one of the most recent examples.

Selected second overall by Los Angeles in 2008, Doughty recorded six goals and 27 points in 81 games as a 19-year-old rookie. One season later, he exploded for 16 goals and 59 points, finished third in scoring among NHL defencemen and earned his first Norris Trophy nomination. Los Angeles finished his rookie season with 79 points, missed the playoffs and ranked 27th in goals, then jumped to 101 points and ninth in scoring the following year as Doughty nearly doubled his power-play production from 16 points to 31.

All in all, it was a 32-point increase from year one to year two.

John Klingberg also did it several years later, albeit in a much better offensive environment. Dallas ranked second in scoring during Klingberg’s rookie year before leading the NHL in goals the next season. After putting up 40 points in 65 games as a rookie, his total climbed to 58 in 76 games during his sophomore season, finishing fifth among NHL defencemen in scoring.

Vancouver is starting from a deeper hole than either team after finishing with 58 points and ranking 30th in goals, but Buium also has more room for his role to grow, particularly on the power play as Doughty’s did.

You have to go further back to find the only other names to accomplish the feat. Paul Coffey climbed from 32 points as a rookie to 89 in his second season, while Sergei Zubov followed a 31-point debut campaign with 89 points for the New York Rangers.

Those numbers are well beyond anything Buium should reasonably be expected to produce, but they show how quickly offence can take off when a gifted young defenceman earns a larger role.

There are a few other examples from recent history, even if the shortened 2020-21 season kept them below 50 points in raw totals.

Adam Fox recorded 47 points in 55 games and won the Norris Trophy in his second NHL season, Cale Makar produced 44 in 44 games, while Quinn Hughes finished with 41 in 56. Fox and Makar both easily cleared a 50-point pace.

Buium would need to produce at roughly 0.6 points per game to reach 50 over a full season. His rookie rate sat at 0.34.

A larger power-play role and another season of experience against NHL competition would all have to come together to close that gap, more than just a simple year-to-year development.

For a player entering his age-21 season with Buium’s offensive background, though, the target might be within reach.

Waiting could cost the Canucks millions

Reaching 50 points would make his contract situation much more expensive for Vancouver.

The NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement takes effect Sept. 16 and reduces the maximum contract length for a player re-signing with his current team from eight years to seven. If Buium waits until next summer, Vancouver loses the ability to offer that eighth year.

More importantly, he would enter negotiations with another full NHL season under his belt.

Signing now means agreeing to terms after a 26-point rookie campaign in which Buium was still adjusting to the league and changed teams midway through the year. Playing out the season gives him a chance to establish a much higher value before committing to a long-term deal based on potential.

The market for young defencemen has already climbed considerably.

Brock Faber signed an eight-year, $68-million extension with Minnesota after a 47-point rookie season, carrying an $8.5-million average annual value. Lane Hutson pushed that number higher after winning the Calder Trophy with a 66-point rookie campaign, earning a $70.8 million extension in Montreal over eight years, good for an $ 8.85 million cap hit. Luke Hughes later signed a seven-year deal worth $9 million annually with New Jersey after recording 44 points in 71 games during his second full NHL season.

By the time Buium is negotiating, the cap environment will be even friendlier to players. The NHL’s upper limit is projected to rise to $113.5 million for 2027-28, the first season of his next contract.

A $10-million cap hit would account for roughly 8.8 percent of that ceiling. Even $10.5 million would sit around 9.3 percent.

Those percentages become easier to justify if Buium finishes with 50-plus points, takes over Vancouver’s first power-play unit, and shows he can handle top-four minutes while continuing to improve defensively, but at that point, the conversation would likely move beyond the deals signed by Faber, Hutson and Hughes.

Seven years at somewhere between $10 million and $11 million annually would be a major commitment for a player with only two NHL seasons behind him. Although it could be the going rate for a 21-year-old defenceman who has established himself as one of the league’s better players at the position.

Vancouver acquired Buium as one of the cornerstones of the biggest trade the organization has ever made. His development will have a major say in how that deal is remembered. A 50-point sophomore season would accelerate those expectations considerably and leave the Canucks facing a much more expensive negotiation next summer.

For Buium, betting on himself could pay off in a big way.

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