Canucks sign Zeev Buium to eight-year extension
The Vancouver Canucks have agreed to terms on a massive eight-year contract extension with defenseman Zeev Buium, the club announced Friday afternoon.
Buium, 20, joined the Canucks from the Minnesota Wild midway through the 2025-26 season as one of the main pieces in the Quinn Hughes trade. His new deal will take effect in the 2027-28 season and carries a $9.38 million NHL cap hit, for a total financial commitment just north of $75 million.
According to PuckPedia, Buium’s new contract includes a no-move clause and a 15-team no-trade clause in the final three years.
In 76 games split between the Wild and Canucks in the 2025-26 regular season, Buium collected six goals and 26 points. He finished the season with a minus-33 rating and averaged 20:21 of ice time in 45 games with the Canucks after the trade.
“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,” Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson said in a statement on Friday. “He is a key member of our young core and a player we will build around moving forward. Zeev has a lot of upside, and 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.”
The Wild originally selected Buium with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The San Diego product spent the seasons immediately preceding and following the draft at the University of Denver, winning a National Championship in 2024 and being named a Hobey Baker Award finalist in 2025.
After signing with the Wild at the conclusion of his sophomore year with the Pioneers, Buium appeared in his first four NHL games during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, collecting one assist. He skated in 31 games with the Wild to start the 2025-26 season before being traded, alongside Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi, and a 2026 first-round pick, to the Canucks for Hughes.
Buium still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract, which carries a $966,667 cap hit. He will become the Canucks’ highest-paid defender when the new deal takes effect, surpassing Filip Hronek’s $7.25 million annual salary.
