- The Canucks signed Zeev Buium to an eight-year extension worth $75.04 million
- His $9.38 million cap hit starts in 2027-28 and runs through 2034-35
- Read below for what GM Ryan Johnson said and why Sept. 15 forced Vancouver’s hand
Ryan Johnson had 11 days to get this done. He needed one.
The Canucks signed defenceman Zeev Buium to an eight-year extension worth $75.04 million on Friday. The $9.38 million cap hit kicks in for 2027-28 and runs through the 2034-35 season.
That eight-year term is the entire reason this happened in the first week of September. The current CBA expires Sept. 15, and the new agreement caps a team at seven years when it extends its own player. Vancouver signed Buium now or gave up a year of control.
Johnson laid out the reasoning in the team’s release.
“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. 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 called it locking up the future of their defence, and the money says Johnson sees it the same way:
Only 10 defencemen in the league carried a cap hit above $9.34 million heading into this season. Buium turns 21 before he ever plays a game on the new number.
He arrived in the Quinn Hughes trade and put up 12 points in 45 games once he got to Vancouver. Across 76 career NHL games with the Wild and Canucks, he has 26 points.
College is where the hype came from. Buium piled up 98 points in 83 games at Denver, won an NCAA title in 2024, and has gold medals from back-to-back World Juniors and the 2025 World Championship. Minnesota drafted him 12th overall in 2024.
One year remains on his entry-level deal at $966,667, so the raise does not land until the summer after next. Teams that paid young defencemen early have been rewarded for it. Lane Hutson at $8.85 million and Jake Sanderson at $8.05 million both read like steals now.
Filip Hronek pointed to his own eight-year deal last week as proof he believes in where this roster is headed. Johnson just handed the same term to a 20-year-old, with 11 days to spare.
