LD Zeev Buium - University of Denver, NCAA (2024 Draft)

[User1996]

Clearly a product of his team.

And clearly not a good enough skater.

 

[57special]

Starman(color guy) kept comparing him the Leetch. Pretty heady stuff.

 

[MNRube]

Wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest in he is the first D off the board. What more can he do? He seems to have that ability to slow down play and calmly make the right play over and over again. Reminds me of a mix of young Suter and Adam Fox.

 

[coooldude]

Wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest in he is the first D off the board. What more can he do? He seems to have that ability to slow down play and calmly make the right play over and over again. Reminds me of a mix of young Suter and Adam Fox.

The reason he might not be is that you could say the exact same thing about any of the top 6 D with slight changes to your last two sentences. "he seems to have that ability to... (Insert biggest strengths here). Reminds me of a mix of (great player of the past)." It's why it's an exceptional and interesting group of D men.

 

[MNRube]

The reason he might not be is that you could say the exact same thing about any of the top 6 D with slight changes to your last two sentences. "he seems to have that ability to... (Insert biggest strengths here). Reminds me of a mix of (great player of the past)." It's why it's an exceptional and interesting group of D men.

Here I was thinking we were in the Zeev Buium discussion on a hockey’s future board where the whole point is to try and project and discuss Buium’s NHL prospects.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Starman(color guy) kept comparing him the Leetch. Pretty heady stuff.

I don’t dislike Starman, but his comparisons are terrible in general.

 

[coooldude]

Here I was thinking we were in the Zeev Buium discussion on a hockey’s future board where the whole point is to try and project and discuss Buium’s NHL prospects.

... Which I am also doing.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Good game for Buium in the NCHC semi. Very smooth , very mobile , heady player. Very good option in the top 10. He is not as raw as some of the other D ranked in the top 10 but he doesn't have the size packages some of the others offer. IMO he is definitely in the mix with any of them.



It will be interesting to see how these D are ranked and picked but you can make a case for any way you rank them depending on what you are prioritizing

 

[57special]

I don’t dislike Starman, but his comparisons are terrible in general.

I actually do dislike him, and usually turn off the sound when he is on color... i dunno where that leaves us.

 

[Rob]

Potential of going in the top 3?

 

[coooldude]

Potential of going in the top 3?

Tons of good discussion on this in the past 2-3 pages.

 

[Oak]

I don't think 6'0 is as detrimental as people are saying. 6'-6'1 range is more and more becoming the norm for good skating D. If anything his frame needs focusing on but he doesn't strike me as a slim framed kid.

 

[majormajor]

I don't think 6'0 is as detrimental as people are saying. 6'-6'1 range is more and more becoming the norm for good skating D. If anything his frame needs focusing on but he doesn't strike me as a slim framed kid.

He's well built and very strong on his edges. You wish he had more defensive reach, that's one aspect of height that doesn't get spelled out enough.

 

[57special]

I don't think 6'0 is as detrimental as people are saying. 6'-6'1 range is more and more becoming the norm for good skating D. If anything his frame needs focusing on but he doesn't strike me as a slim framed kid.

I would think that it would be sussed out whether his brother had a late growing spurt, which would indicate that the same might happen to him, giving him another inch or two in height.
Some guys stop growing at 14 yo, some keep adding height till they are 19-20. I certainly don't think he is small. He already looks strong on his skates and will probably get more so.

What i like about his game is his IQ with the puck. Still can't get a read on his defensive game. It's not bad, but not stalwart, either. Just sort of there.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I would think that it would be sussed out whether his brother had a late growing spurt, which would indicate that the same might happen to him, giving him another inch or two in height.
Some guys stop growing at 14 yo, some keep adding height till they are 19-20. I certainly don't think he is small. He already looks strong on his skates and will probably get more so.

What i like about his game is his IQ with the puck. Still can't get a read on his defensive game. It's not bad, but not stalwart, either. Just sort of there.

I remember his brother was like 6-4 in the USHL his draft year and is still that same height.

I think Zeev is a little different. He was 5’10 when he entered the NTDP and is now at least 6’0.

 

[coooldude]

Glad to see Denver move on... more prospecting to watch. Zeev had a pretty solid game. He played fairly conservatively and was just solid in the D zone. A couple hiccups but far more solid little plays and responsible positioning.

Far too much "dicking around" at the blue line for my liking and UMass fwds pressured him well enough that he stopped doing it. He did turn on hard for a few shifts in OT to try to push for scoring chances and did create a few.

Generally I was impressed to see him change styles depending on the situation. Wonder if others had the same impression. More tourney = more hope that Zeev and Levshunov might be able to sort themselves out in the mess, one way or the other.

 

[BondraTime]

He’s listed at 6’2 on both U of D and at the WJC.

No clue how accurate that is, and we will get a better idea at the combine, but he isn’t an undersized guy.

He certainly doesn’t look small on the ice.

 

[William H Bonney]

He’s listed at 6’2 on both U of D and at the WJC.

No clue how accurate that is, and we will get a better idea at the combine, but he isn’t an undersized guy.

He certainly doesn’t look small on the ice.

Agreed. If he grows more or 6'2 ends up confirmed, it's icing on the cake. His size is not a concern.

 

[rt]

Glad to see Denver move on... more prospecting to watch. Zeev had a pretty solid game. He played fairly conservatively and was just solid in the D zone. A couple hiccups but far more solid little plays and responsible positioning.

Far too much "dicking around" at the blue line for my liking and UMass fwds pressured him well enough that he stopped doing it. He did turn on hard for a few shifts in OT to try to push for scoring chances and did create a few.

Generally I was impressed to see him change styles depending on the situation. Wonder if others had the same impression. More tourney = more hope that Zeev and Levshunov might be able to sort themselves out in the mess, one way or the other.

Thought he was very solid today. Especially given his age and the situation.

I’ve only been able to watch a 3-4 DU games this season. And then, of course, I saw his 7 WJC games. So only like 10 views this year of Buium. But I love this kid. He’s only average height but he’s so strong. Doesn’t run around looking to kill anyone. But he’s really sturdy. Very stout. He’s got an active stick and is really good at leaning in and separating the puck from players. Then offensively he’s got the incredible falling down hill entry into the ozone that you see with Adam Fox and Simon Nemec. So many head fakes and shimmy shakes. Dangles for days. Really good at getting around guys despite not having elite speed.

He’s big and strong despite not being tall. And he’s a really effective skater despite not being fast or having a beautiful stride. And he’s really underrated defensively, especially for an offensive D-Man. Kid is an anomaly of contradictions. And I think he’s going to be awesome at the next level.

 

[majormajor]

Glad to see Denver move on... more prospecting to watch. Zeev had a pretty solid game. He played fairly conservatively and was just solid in the D zone. A couple hiccups but far more solid little plays and responsible positioning.

Far too much "dicking around" at the blue line for my liking and UMass fwds pressured him well enough that he stopped doing it. He did turn on hard for a few shifts in OT to try to push for scoring chances and did create a few.

Generally I was impressed to see him change styles depending on the situation. Wonder if others had the same impression. More tourney = more hope that Zeev and Levshunov might be able to sort themselves out in the mess, one way or the other.

Denver usually loves to weave in the high zone but they had a lot of hesitation on their switches and got crossed up a lot, so Zeev mostly played more cautiously. He looked good defensively.

He created that one opportunity in OT - he has that ability coming down the right side with a defender on him, protecting the puck on his backhand, to ride on his edges hard into the crease. It's a great show of strength.

He’s listed at 6’2 on both U of D and at the WJC.

No clue how accurate that is, and we will get a better idea at the combine, but he isn’t an undersized guy.

He certainly doesn’t look small on the ice.

Agreed. If he grows more or 6'2 ends up confirmed, it's icing on the cake. His size is not a concern.

He is not 6'2. Certainly doesn't look it. And Russ from EP confirmed with Zeev that he's not 6'2. He looks 5'11 or 6'0.

 

[rt]

It’s impossible to tell, but based on what he looks like in goal celebrations when he comes together with teammates, and looking at their heights (DU and USA at WJC) my best guess is he’s 6ft even.

Maybe 5’11.5 or 6’0.5

 

[coooldude]

It’s impossible to tell, but based on what he looks like in goal celebrations when he comes together with teammates, and looking at their heights (DU and USA at WJC) my best guess is he’s 6ft even.

Maybe 5’11.5 or 6’0.5

I posted this earlier in the thread, but will Smith is pretty clearly 6'0" (5'11.75" at the combine) and Zeev is around 0.5-1" taller than him in a video from WJC. so I'm guessing he's 6'0-6'1". Whether he's done growing is the big question.

 

[William H Bonney]

Denver usually loves to weave in the high zone but they had a lot of hesitation on their switches and got crossed up a lot, so Zeev mostly played more cautiously. He looked good defensively.

He created that one opportunity in OT - he has that ability coming down the right side with a defender on him, protecting the puck on his backhand, to ride on his edges hard into the crease. It's a great show of strength.





He is not 6'2. Certainly doesn't look it. And Russ from EP confirmed with Zeev that he's not 6'2. He looks 5'11 or 6'0.

I'm not saying he's 6'2 but he's at least 6'0, which is plenty fine. Anything more than that, such as hitting a growth spurt, is gravy.

 

[majormajor]

I'm not saying he's 6'2 but he's at least 6'0, which is plenty fine. Anything more than that, such as hitting a growth spurt, is gravy.

I like him plenty enough at 6'0.

Something like 90% of 18 year olds are completely done growing in height so I don't expect more.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I’ll make an official prediction for 6’ 0.75” at the combine.