Vancouver General Manager Ryan Johnson officially announced an eight-year contract extension for defenseman Zeev Buium today, carrying a massive $9.38 million AAV. We’re talking about an unproven player getting nearly $75 million over the next eight seasons, with the deadline for these long-term deals, September 15, looming just around the corner. Canucks fans have to be feeling a mix of wild excitement and maybe a little bit of anxiety right now, huh?
The Buium Bet: A “Massive, Calculated” Risk
Look, the Canucks are not messing around under their new GM Ryan Johnson and co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin. They’ve called this a “massive, calculated bet” on Buium, and you gotta wonder if it’ll pay off. Remember last December when they traded superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes to Minnesota? Yeah, Buium was the centerpiece of that entire haul of assets. It’s wild to think they flipped a proven superstar for a package built around an unproven guy they’re now betting the farm on. “We were aggressive,” Johnson reportedly said, and aggressive doesn’t even begin to cover it! This is a franchise putting everything on the line, hoping Buium transforms into a cornerstone. If he doesn’t, that Hughes trade is gonna sting way worse.
Expansion Rumors Heating Up, But Atlanta’s Not There Yet
Meanwhile, the league is buzzing with expansion talk, and the NHL’s Board of Governors meetings later this month are gonna be HUGE. Houston, Austin, Atlanta , all these cities are in the mix, with the board set to get briefed on “various expressions of interest.” But hold up a minute, Atlanta fans! While an X account, “NHLtoAtlanta,” got everyone hyped, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is pumping the brakes hard. He told The Athletic that Atlanta is “not even remotely close to an application phase.” Apparently, a development team called The Gathering in South Forsyth posted about submitting a “final financing packet,” but Daly shut that down fast. He said the application process is “formal, comprehensive and time-consuming,” and what they’ve sent in isn’t even the basis for a real application. Talk about a cold shower for those hopeful fans, right? Guess some dreams are still a long way off.
Hughes Heading for a Wild Meeting as Division Play Looms
Speaking of Quinn Hughes, it sounds like he and the Minnesota Wild are “going to be meeting soon.” What’s next for the former Canucks star? Everyone’s watching that situation closely. And hey, for teams trying to figure out their rosters, Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon is calling the Atlantic Division “hockey’s Group of Death.” That means every single player in that division, especially those eight key guys he mentioned, needs to step up big time this season. The pressure’s on across the league as teams finalize their plans.
So, for Vancouver, we’re all watching Buium now. Can he live up to that insane deal? For the NHL, will we get concrete news on expansion, or just more hints and teases? And what’s going on with Hughes and the Wild? We’ll be glued to the updates, ready for whatever wild ride comes next!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pension Plan Puppets.
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