Eight years, $75.04 million
The Vancouver Canucks announced overnight that Zeev Buium has signed a contract extension. The defenseman agreed to an eight-year deal worth $75.04 million. The contract will kick in from the 2027-28 season.
Buium is 20. He could have become a restricted free agent at the end of next season. The player says that option never really interested him.
“It wasn’t hard for me. When they came with the offer, the decision wasn’t complicated at all. Personally, I wanted to be here for eight years, I didn’t want it to be any shorter,” he told NHL.com.
Try it for $0.99.
Brought in as part of the Quinn Hughes deal
Buium’s name is still tied to one of the biggest recent trades in the league. Vancouver got him on December 12, 2025, in the deal that sent Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild took him 12th overall in the 2024 draft. Across the 2025-26 season, split between the two clubs, Buium played 76 games for 26 points, including 6 goals and 20 assists. His Vancouver numbers stand at 45 games and 12 points, with 3 goals and 9 assists.
The sample size is small for that kind of money. General manager Ryan Johnson owns it.
A bet on the player of the next five years
“This contract isn’t about Zeev today or Zeev tomorrow. It’s about where we see him in three, four and five years,” the executive said, describing his defenseman as a proven winner.
Johnson also stressed the human side. He pointed to the player’s presence in the locker room and a drive to win that he believes is obvious. He added that Buium himself turned down a shorter term.
For a club that just shipped out its best defenseman, the message to the market is clear. Vancouver isn’t rebuilding on the cheap.
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