Minnesota Wild defenseman Zeev Buium will make his NHL debut in Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, head coach John Hynes told reporters Saturday, including NHL.com's Shawn Roarke.
He'll be the first player in Wild history to make his NHL debut in the postseason.
Buium, the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top hockey player in 2024-25. He tallied 48 points in 41 games, helping Denver reach the semifinals of the Frozen Four.
The 19-year-old is expected to start on the team's third pairing with veteran Zach Bogosian. Buium was also quarterbacking the team's top power-play unit at Saturday's practice.
Buium will be the seventh player from the 2024 draft to play in the NHL, joining Macklin Celebrini (first overall), Artyom Levshunov (second overall), Ivan Demidov (fifth overall), Zayne Parekh (ninth overall), Jett Luchanko (13th overall), and Nikita Prishchepov (217th overall).
Buium helped the United States win back-to-back gold medals at the World Juniors, tallying 11 points in 14 games over the 2024 and 2025 tournaments. He accumulated 98 points in 83 appearances across his two seasons at Denver and helped the Pioneers capture the 2024 national championship.
