Israeli-American hockey player Zeev Buium only lasted 31 regular-season games with the Minnesota Wild this year before being traded just after Shabbat started on Dec. 12. But in exchange, arguably the best Jewish hockey player in the NHL will be making St. Paul home.
Quinn Hughes, who will be part of the U.S. Olympic hockey team in February, was acquired by the Wild from the Vancouver Canucks Friday night, in exchange for a package that included Buium, fellow former first-round picks Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, and a future first-round draft pick.
With the trade, Hughes goes from the worst team in the league to one of the best teams.
Buium was drafted by the Wild in 2024 with the 12th overall pick. He went back to the University of Denver for his sophomore year, and then signed his entry-level contract with the Wild after his college season ended. He made his Wild debut in the playoffs last season and had one assist in four games. This season, he had three goals and 11 assists.
“It’s obviously pretty crazy,” Buium said to Vancouver media Saturday morning. “I mean, anything can kind of happen like that. But it’s a business, and you know, you’ve just got to be ready for any opportunity. I’m very thankful for everything Minnesota did for me, just giving me a chance and drafting me and bringing me to the NHL. I just can’t thank them enough.”
Buium goes to a Canucks team coached by Adam Foote, a Stanley Cup-winning defenseman who taught Buium for several summers when he was a teenager.
“I had no idea this was going down at all,” Foote said of the trade. “I know him well as a person and as a player, seen him play a lot of hockey, he’s gonna be a really good hockey player, and he’ll be fun to work with.”
Hughes won the Norris Trophy in 2024 as the NHL’s best defenseman and is the all-time leading scorer amongst defensemen in Canucks history. He is under contract through the end of the 2026-27 season, and according to reports, the Wild made the trade knowing that Hughes was not going to sign a contract extension before he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2027.
Hughes’ mom, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, is Jewish, and his father, Jim, is Catholic. Both his parents were hockey players: his mom played hockey (as well as lacrosse and soccer) at the University of New Hampshire, and his dad played at Providence College before working for the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Hughes’ older and younger brothers, Jack and Luke, both play for the New Jersey Devils.
