The Detroit Red Wings have reached another familiar decision point with a defense prospect, and this one lands on the left side of the blue line, where the depth has thinned out fast. After Eemil Viro went to Europe and William Wallinder, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson moved up to the NHL, Shai Buium is the lone left-handed defensive prospect still standing in the pipeline.
That gives Buium a real opening in Grand Rapids, and he’s starting to make the most of it.
Born March 26, 2003, in San Diego, California, Buium has always stood out a little. He’s 6’3”, 220 pounds, and the Red Wings took him in the second round, 36th overall. His younger brother, Zeev Buium, is already in the NHL as a Vancouver Canucks defenseman, but Shai has been carving out his own route.
The scouting appeal has been there for a while. In the EliteProspects 2021 NHL Draft Guide, he was described this way: “His hands and feet work independently, each transmitting different information to opponents,"reads the EliteProspects 2021 NHL Draft Guide.
"With changes of pace, fake shots and constant eye deception, [Buium] turns exits into inside-lane entries, creates passing lanes and hits teammates through heavy pressure. Give-and-goes with a space-filling mentality allows him to create scoring chances for himself or his teammates.”
Buium spent three seasons at the University of Denver, where he put up 14 goals and 61 assists for 75 points in 120 games. He also finished with 75 penalty minutes and a +61 rating.
After that, he moved into the pro game with Grand Rapids, where he has appeared in 111 games, scored five goals and added 38 assists for 43 points. He has 33 penalty minutes and is a +1 overall, and in the playoffs two seasons ago he played three games and finished at minus-3.
His time in the AHL has not been perfectly smooth. Injuries have interrupted his run with the Griffins, and last season he managed only 36 games. But with other defensemen moved out, Buium is now getting his shot on the top pair in Grand Rapids, while also seeing time on the power play, penalty kill and in heavier five-on-five minutes.
The early return has been encouraging. In seven games, he has four assists, just two penalty minutes and a +1 rating.
There are still stretches where the reads lag behind the pace of the game, and he can drift into too much poke-and-hope hockey. Even so, when he’s locked in, Buium looks like a quick-thinking defenseman with a strong sense for the game. He brings a little bit of everything, which is part of the appeal.
The family connection always hovers over the conversation, especially with the buzz around the Hughes brothers and what it means when siblings rise through the league together. But the Buium brothers don’t seem interested in forcing that storyline. Neither one appears to be pushing hard to end up on the same team, and both seem content to keep moving along their own paths.
For Detroit, the upside is easy to see. If Buium keeps developing, he projects as a middle-pair defenseman who can handle all situations. His road may be longer and less direct than some, but that winding path could be exactly what helps him become his own kind of NHL player.
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