When the Vancouver Canucks traded their captain, Quinn Hughes, they may not have realized the character they were welcoming through the doors of Rogers Arena in Zeev Buium.

Acquired as the centrepiece of one of the biggest trades in Canucks history, Buium had a lot of pressure on him, with massive shoes to fill in the market, being the only defenceman returned in a trade for Hughes. And after an impressive Canucks debut with a goal and two points in the opening 20 minutes and four straight wins that followed, fans started believing they may have found their next franchise defenceman.

But it hasn’t been the easiest start for Buium or the team since then.

Since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Canucks have yet to find the win column. In fact, they carry a 1-10-2 record following that four-game winning streak. That win came in a shootout over the Seattle Kraken. One has to date back a month to find the last time the Canucks won a regulation game – December 19 against Monday night’s opponents, the New York Islanders.

At just 20 years old, losing isn’t easy for a young defenceman in Buium. The Canucks were outscored 11-0 over the last two weekends on Hockey Night in Canada, with their most recent 6-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. It’s not always easy for a young defenceman to keep his emotions bottled up.

On the Oilers’ fourth goal of the second period, Buium was seen slamming his stick on the ice in frustration after losing his assignment, who scored the goal on the play. While visibly frustrated the night before, Buium reflected on the game following Sunday’s practice.

“The first period, we were good; we were playing well, I think,” Buium shared with CanucksArmy. “You get to the second period, and we get scored on once, twice, three times, and then it’s like … you know, it’s tough on your losing streak. You go down like that in the game again, it’s pretty easy to get in a mood where everyone kind of feels down, and it’s hard to have that motivation to come back. But, you know, I think everyone in here wants to come back and wants to push, and especially in front of our own fans, you know, we want to do better for them.

“It’s just tough. The frustrations, just trying to hold it in, trying to continue to play. But you know, I miss my box out, I miss my guy, and that’s the frustrating part. Sometimes goals go in, funky goals or whatever, but that was my guy, and I need to have him. Those are the ones you want back. So I think right after that, [I was] just a little bit frustrated with what happened. But you’ve got to snap out of it pretty quickly and just move forward.”

After keeping the game competitive in the first period, the Canucks lost that compete in the middle frame. The Oilers went on to score six second-period goals, with the team appearing as if they had lost all hope in themselves. Yet, they had another 20 minutes remaining in a 6-0 game.

With little chance of striking a comeback, the final period could be viewed as just a formality, with the players just going through the motions until they hear the final buzzer. But even when there’s little to play for, Buium finds little challenges for himself to keep him invested in the contest.

“I mean, it’s just human. That’s kind of the human nature of it, where you’re down by that much,” Buium said. “But I think everyone in this room was trying to get something going. For myself personally, it’s like, we’re down six nothing, but I’m not gonna let them get seven, or maybe we can get one or two, you know? So for me, it’s like, we might not win the game, but let’s just give everything we’ve got for 20 minutes and see what happens. And you know, I was proud that we didn’t let up any goals. But toward the end, trying to push, just trying to do something, I think it’s good to have that, you know? What if you’re down by one goal in the game? You have that engraved in you already to push in that third in a game you’re down six nothing.”

Losing is one thing, but losing in an embarrassing fashion on a National stage is a different feeling. Buium shared that the loss will sting for a while, and that watching video and looking himself in the mirror about the mistakes he made is how he handles his emotions postgame. From there, it’s just about moving forward, not hanging on to past games and viewing every day as a new opportunity to better himself.

With that mindset, it’s easy for Buium to keep finding the daily motivation to come to the rink and put in the work amid the losses.

“I mean, I love hockey. That’s the easy part,” Buium said. “I want to come to the rink every day. This is what I love to do. I love being at the rink. I love the smell when you come into the rink.”

“Really? The smell?” CanucksArmy replied. “Yeah…it stinks a little bit, but I love it,” Buium joked.

“A lot of guys in this room feel that way,” Buium continued. “I think that’s why we’re here, why we play professionally. I think you have to have that love and passion, and I’ve always kind of had that. That makes it a little bit easier going through these stretches, knowing that I do care a lot, and it’s just still fun for me to come to the rink. I think it’s also exciting trying to be a piece of the reason we win a game or another game, you know, trying to be an impact player and changing the dynamic of if we win or if we lose. That’s something I want to do. I want to be out there when we score; I want to be out there when we don’t get scored on. I think that’s what I work toward every game and every day, just being that guy. It’s tough, and there’s ups and downs, but I think you’re a fool if you’re not working toward that.”

The San Diego, California native is very decorated for his age. Buium won back-to-back Gold Medals for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in 2024 and 2025, along with a National Championship at Denver in 2024. He has been a winner at every stage he’s played at thus far through his hockey career.

However, Buium shared that this level of consistent losing actually isn’t something new for him. During his age-17 season at the US National Training Development Program, Buium said his team won just 19 games of a 65-game season.

Now having experienced both ends of the winning and losing spectrum, Buium has learned a lot along the way. He admits that this type of losing on the 32nd-place team in the NHL is different, but he’s using some of his previous experiences to help himself and his teammates through this tough stretch.

“It’s different,” Buium stated. “I don’t know, I’m trying not to look in the past. Obviously, every team I’ve usually been on is somewhat of a winning team; we figure out a way to win it in the end. I’ve been fortunate to be on those teams, which I think is good for me coming here, understanding how to get out of [all the losing], how to help guys, maybe who weren’t on winning teams or something, and bring that positive winning attitude.

“I think that’s the big piece for me, is trying to help that way. Even though I’m just a rookie, I might not have the loudest voice, but just doing it by the way you play, doing it by the way you act around the rink; smiling, talking to guys, I think all that stuff matters. So yeah, it’s hard. It’s not easy. I mean, I think you can ask any guy on this team, right? Like, no one wants to lose as many as we’ve lost in the last couple of weeks.”

A week ago, Head Coach Adam Foote decided it was best for the left-shot defenceman to watch the game against the Montreal Canadiens from the press box for a game as a quick reset after a tough game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Buium had a costly turnover that wound up in the back of the net, but he wasn’t the only one who struggled that game, as four different defencemen made similar mistakes.

However, it was Buium who had to pay the price the next game, as he was made a healthy scratch, for what Buium shares was a first – based on performance – at any level through his hockey years. While Buium didn’t necessarily agree with his coach’s decision, he respected it and believes that the reset helped his performance over the last three games.

“It gives you a little bit of chip on your shoulder because you never want to miss a game for that; that’s frustrating. I mean, it sucks. I never want it to happen again; I didn’t want it to happen in the first place. But I talked to Footer about it, and he just really wanted me to reset. He’s like, ‘We’ve been on a losing streak, it’s good for you to look [and watch the game].’ Do I want to say I agree with him? Probably not, because I don’t want to be scratched, right? But he’s played this game. I trust him.

“I think I have come out of it playing a lot better these last three games than before. So I think that’s the positive side to it, if I’m trying to find a positive side to it. But it’s a long season. I mean, we still have like 40 games left, and you can change your entire trajectory of the season within 35/40 games. So that’s my focus, come to the rink every day, get better every day, focus on things I need to work on in the gym, on the ice, the little details. I think doing that, like, if all the young guys were doing that, the older guys start to do it more, and everyone starts to do it.”

Buium ended by sharing a funny story regarding why he chose to wear No. 24. Through the USNTDP, Denver, and World Juniors, Buium wore No. 28. Once he made the jump to the NHL, he dropped the 20 and sported No. 8.

In Vancouver, No. 28 is unofficially retired by the club in honour of Luc Bourdon, while fan favourite Conor Garland currently wears No. 8, but was quick to offer the number to Buium… for a fee.

“Well, we didn’t have too many options. Garly sent me a picture of a Rolex if I wanted No. 8,” Buium laughed. “I know Chris Chelios wore 24, obviously a huge fan of his, and I was with Zach Bogosian, like right before I got traded, and he wears 24 – we were pretty tight. I just thought it’d be pretty funny and cool to have it, and he appreciated it too.”

While it’s just been a 16-game stint for him in a Canucks uniform, Buium has shown the on-ice tools and movements to develop into a high-end, offensive defenceman in this league for years to come. While fans have to be patient with the 20-year-old, he does as well, as the team is going to continue to lose as they go through a few years’ worth of rebuilding.

But that losing hasn’t rattled him to this point. Buium continues to be confident in his abilities and keeps his belief high by setting in-game challenges for himself to keep his head in the game. And with a positive attitude moving forward through a gloomy era of Canucks hockey, Buium could be the example and the leader for the next great wave of players to look up to once they eventually turn the corner.