It isn't easy for Vancouver Canucks fans to see another star player walk out of town for the second straight season. The Canucks sent captain Quinn Hughes in a trade to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night in exchange for Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick. Buium made his debut on Sunday afternoon and made an immediate impact, assisting on the team's first goal before scoring one of his own, according to Frank Seravalli via X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Canucks are now on their way to a rebuild after trading Hughes and JT Miller in back-to-back seasons. With Elias Pettersson also added to the injured reserve on Sunday morning, it seems like Vancouver's season is going nowhere fast. The only light at the end of the tunnel is a lottery pick to kickstart the rebuild.
Buium is a 20-year-old offensive defenseman who the Canucks hope can one day approach the impact Hughes had on the franchise. It won't be easy for him to fill those shoes, but two points in his first seven minutes in their uniform will do nothing to temper expectations.
The question for the Canucks is whether the Hughes trade will kickstart a full-blown teardown. Sights are now on players like Brock Boeser and Pettersson, who might not want to stick around for a lengthy rebuild. Before long, Zeev Buium could be the new face of the franchise if some of those other stars look for a trade elsewhere. If he continues playing as he did in the first period against the New Jersey Devils, he'll quickly become a fan favorite.
