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Zeev Buium showcased star potential for Vancouver Canucks and his teammates were impressed

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Jan 24 2026, 2:00 pm
Zeev Buium showcased star potential for Vancouver Canucks and his teammates were impressed
Bob Frid/Imagn Images

It might have been one of the best moments in this miserable Vancouver Canucks season.

Late in the second period, Zeev Buium took the puck after an Elias Pettersson face-off win, and basically did the rest himself.

He cut in from the point and got a high-danger chance off, before cleaning up his own rebound to score his second goal with the Canucks. Ironically, both of them have come against the New Jersey Devils.

Those Devils defeated the Canucks 5-4 on Friday night at Rogers Arena, in what many fans might call the perfect tank game.

Linus Karlsson continued his ascension up the lineup with a goal and an assist. Tom Willander registered another assist. Heck, Pettersson even made the crowd erupt as he successfully played goalie with the empty net pulled.

But the most important development of the night was the play of Buium, who flashed some serious skill despite learning on the fly with a new NHL team as a rookie.

“He’s very offensive-minded,” Filip Chytil said after the game. “He’s got so much room to learn as well. But like, his skill, that skill set is unbelievable.”

Chytil explained why he’s excited about Buium’s future, but he also kept things honest.

“He’s playing with it with his head up all the time. And he’s fun to watch, but he still has a lot of work ahead of him.”

“He can make some passes that not many players can do,” he said. “He’s got a great future.”

Buium has the part that can’t be taught. His on-ice vision stands out compared to most NHLers.

“He can handle the puck,” Teddy Blueger said. “He’s got good poise with the puck, great skill. He’ll be a great player for a long time.”

But, like it is for all NHL youngsters not named Macklin Celebrini, it’s a process.

“I think when he’s moving his feet, he has success,” Foote said postgame.

Earlier on this homestand, Buium did have moments where he got caught puckwatching, with one goal during the blowout loss against the Edmonton Oilers coming to mind.

However, that was the only game in the Canucks last six contests where Buium was on the ice for a five-on-five goal against. Before that, Buium was on the ice for at least one five-on-five goal against in eight of 10 games.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

“There are ups and downs,” Buium said postgame. “I think it’s getting better each game, but, you know, I’m trying to make more of a push to do some of the things I was doing out there today, you know, cascading puck up the ice, get my feet moving, stuff like that.”

While there’s work to be done, his east-west puck movement up the ice stands out, especially as a rookie blueliner in the NHL.

“Being a young player and coming from the NCAA, he probably could do a lot of things,” Foote said. “You know, he could probably own the ice with the way he can skate, the way he thinks.”

“It’s just learning to have the consistent habits,” Foote said. “He’s starting to get it. And, you know, he’s really coachable and fun to be around.”

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