Las Vegas — Everything I heard leading up to the draft indicated that Zeev Buium would go higher than projected. Some speculated that it may be Utah, while others believed he could go to Montreal if both Ivan Demidov and Cayden Lindstrom were unavailable. In the end, he not only finished 12th, but the Philadelphia Flyers shipped him out for the low price of a third-round selection pick from Minnesota Wild.
Meanwhile, Minnesota may have gotten the steal of the first half of the first round by picking Buium, who I ranked as the No. 3 defenseman in the class but can easily admit he has the potential to be the best of the group.
