Canucks: Zeev Buium sure sounds like a captain

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Who should be the next captain of the Vancouver Canucks?

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Published Mar 21, 2026 • 3 minute read

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Chandler Stephenson of the Seattle Kraken and Zeev Buium of the Vancouver Canucks March 14, 2026 in Vancouver. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty ImagesArticle content

Zeev Buium is only 20 but has a wisdom and poise beyond his years.

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It’s really hard not to see him one day wearing a C on his sweater.

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But it’s best for him for that to not happen. Not yet anyway.

As the Vancouver Canucks transition into this new group of players, the post-Quinn Hughes era if you will, how their leadership evolved is going to be a thing to watch.

We’ve heard so much about how Filip Hronek as emerged as a vocal internal leader. Brock Boeser’s charisma has long been obvious and it’s clear he’s got a bigger role than ever to play in raising his teammates’ self-confidence.

Boeser is much more adept at filling a public speaking role than Hronek, but it’s Hronek who is the team’s best all-around player. Either of them, on the surface, looks like a good candidate to be the next Canuck to have a C on his sweater; but is either really the choice in the long run?

Both are 29 this year. On this team that’s old: they’re now the third youngest roster in the NHL.

This team’s future will be driven by the likes of Buium.

One day he’ll be the captain, but the Canucks shouldn’t rush into this. Just ask Trevor Linden.

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“I would hope they would not do that,” he told me Saturday about the idea of making Buium captain before next season. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

And that’s even before considering how much growing he still he has to do as a defenceman.

“That’s a very difficult position to break into and play at. I would give him a year or two before you that. But that’s great that he’s a good kid. That’s a consideration,” he went on. “I think the pressure of just establishing himself as an every day bona fide defenceman is enough pressure. I don’t think you want to add the C, especially next year.”

One of the things that helped Quinn Hughes take on the role, even if he was a quieter personality, was he so clearly the team’s best player. If the Canucks were in trouble, he’d rescue them. Buium isn’t that kind of player, at least not yet. Let him get there first.

In the long run, though, I’ve seen enough from him that tells me he would be a strong captain. He’s thoughtful and self-aware. He’s obviously got a massive passion for the game. As he told Canucks Army this week, he sees how important it is that his teammates have a strong connection with each other. And he’s ready and willing to speak publicly, whether that’s with the media or the general public.

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Good vibes

We’ve often been critical about the Canucks as an organization, so a moment of credit here: a few of us were hosted at a Warriors game and it was truly a rocking good time. I took my two girls and they left buzzing about the experience.

The crowd is boisterous, the game is fun; you want to talk about connection? The fans and players clearly have a connection. It’s a much more grassroots experience. You feel part of a community there.

Lots of good lessons to be drawn there, no doubt.

The Goldeneyes are a similar story. I keep hearing stories from friends who go and also leave happy.

“There’s a real East Van vibe to it,” one told me. Just a bunch of people of a broad swath of life experiences all having a good time.

Again, there’s connection between fans and players. There’s a coherence to the game’s presentation that is leaving a mark on fans for the long term.

Both these teams are well priced and have the fan experience front of mind.

And both clearly leave fans feeling they’re getting good value.

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Caps initiatives

Still no movement on the Caps’ ownership or stadium front and I’m going to write a column about that sooner rather than later. As long as those don’t change, the long-term viability of the team will be in question.

And yet the Caps keep making moves that suggest they’re here for a few seasons at least yet. There’s been a trickle of sponsorship deals signed which run for a season or two beyond this one. None are massive. Each is a few hundred thousand dollars.

The Caps’ ability to generate commercial revenue remains restrained.

But they keep pressing on as if they’re going nowhere. Thursday’s announcement of a series of mini-pitches to be built around the province after the World Cup had the Caps front and centre again. They’re talking about World Cup legacy and the Caps want to be part of that story.

That does matter.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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