Wild drafts Denver defenseman Zeev Buium with 12th overall pick in NHL draft

LAS VEGAS — The Wild traded up a spot, from 13th to 12th, to add defenseman Zeev Buium during the first round of the NHL draft Friday night in Las Vegas.

They acquired No. 12 from Philadelphia in exchange for their 13th pick and a third-rounder in 2025.

Buium, who won a national championship with Denver at Xcel Energy Center in April, was the fourth-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

The 6-foot, 186-pound native of San Diego led NCAA defensemen in scoring as a freshman, racking up 11 goals and 39 assists for 50 points in 42 games; one of those assists came in Denver's 2-0 victory over Boston College for its 10th national title.

Two seasons ago, Buium led defensemen on USA Hockey's national team development program's under-18 team defensemen in scoring with 40 points in 63 games.

Buium's brother, Shai, was a second-round pick by Detroit, and Shai also played the defense for Denver last season.

As expected, the draft began with Boston University's Macklin Celebrini getting selected first overall by San Jose.

Chicago stayed on script, adding Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov, but the first shocker arrived soon after: Anaheim nabbed Beckett Sennecke, a scorer out of the Ontario Hockey League who was forecasted to go later in the first round and looked stunned to hear his name called.

Next up, Columbus chose the Western Hockey League's Cayden Lindstrom and Russian winger Ivan Demidov rounded out the top-five by joining Montreal; five-time Grammy winner and Quebec native Celine Dion announced the pick.

Almost as intriguing as each team's selection was the visual reveal at Sphere.

The world's largest spherical structure — the Statue of Liberty could fit inside — used its 160,000 square-foot screen that wrapped over the draft floor and amphitheater seating for the crowd to showcase each drafted player.

The over-the-top display — literally — was fitting for a first round that continued to surprise.

Some of the draft's top defensive talent was available later than anticipated, including Buium, 70-point producer Sam Dickinson and 6-foot-7 Russian defenseman Anton Silayev, who was the top-rated International skater by NHL Central Scouting.

Fellow defender Carter Yakemchuk, who figured to get called in the neighborhood of the Wild's pick, was scooped up by Ottawa's seventh choice; New Jersey finally tabbed Silayev at No. 10, one spot ahead of Dickinson, who was called by San Jose.