Vancouver Canucks sign Zeev Buium to massive $75-million contract
Ryan Johnson just made his boldest move yet.
The clock was ticking for the Vancouver Canucks to sign Zeev Buium to an eight-year extension. But on Friday, Johnson made it happen.
The Canucks announced that they’ve locked up Zeev Buium for the next eight years, at $9.38 million per season.
That means Buium will make $75.04 million throughout the duration of this eight-year contract.
“Zeev has settled in nicely with our organization since his trade to Vancouver last season, and we are extremely happy to see him make this long-term commitment to the Canucks,” said Johnson.
“We feel with his abilities, he will flourish in the system and environment we are creating inside our locker room. We look forward to working together and creating a strong partnership and foundation for our future.”
Buium’s massive extension won’t kick in until the 2027-28 season, as he has one year remaining on his entry-level deal, which pays him $966,667.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, there are only 10 defencemen who make more than $9.34 million per season.
Even though that doesn’t factor in extensions for guys like Cale Makar and Bowen Byram, Buium will be one of the highest-paid defencemen in the NHL when his new deal kicks in.
The Canucks had a pressure point to get this done, as the new CBA stipulates that teams can only extend players for a maximum of seven years. Sept. 15 was the deadline to finalize an eight-year deal.
Vancouver is now betting that Buium can flourish into one of the best defencemen in hockey. Considering the contracts Makar ($20.4M) and Byram ($12.5M) signed this summer, this will look like a sweetheart deal for the Canucks if Buium lives up to his potential.
That has worked out already for a couple of teams. Lane Hutson is the obvious example, as his eight-year contract worth $8.85 million per season is already one of the best contracts in hockey. Ottawa’s deal for defenceman Jake Sanderson (eight years, $8.05 million AAV) has also worked out wonderfully for the Senators.
Buium certainly showed flashes of his top-pairing potential last season, but there were also some trying moments under former Canucks head coach Adam Foote.
But there was a reason why he’s been one of the most highly-regarded prospects in hockey.
In his draft year, Buium became the first freshman NCAA defenceman in 20 years to record 50 points in a season. He followed that with 48 points in 41 games as a sophomore in the NCAA.
“I don’t think there’s a player in the draft that impacts a game shift-to-shift like he does,” Denver coach David Carle said back in 2024.
$75.04 million is a truckload of money for a 20-year-old. But recent history has told us that most of these deals end up working favourably for the signing team.
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