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<\/a><\/p>\n\n Going from the contending Wild to the rebuilding Canucks hasn\u2019t been easy on Zeev Buium, but he\u2019s excited for the future and has no hard feelings. (Michael Russo \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n
Like Rossi and \u00d6hgren, Buium said he was fully invested in being a Wild player forever.<\/p>\n
At 20 years old, the first-round pick, NCAA champion at Denver and two-time World Juniors gold-medalist is regarded as a potential future star in the NHL. He became close to Wild players like Matt Boldy and Brock Faber and was mentored specifically by Zach Bogosian. In fact, the way Bogosian treated him in Minnesota is why he opted to wear No. 24 in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone I can\u2019t thank enough,\u201d Buium said. \u201cFrom Day 1, always bringing me into his house, always inviting me to everything, making sure I felt a part of it. The main thing is (he) just never really treated me like a rookie or I was so young. Just had the best advice and always knew what to say and when to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many Wild players texted Buium, Rossi and \u00d6hgren this week, hoping to have dinner Wednesday \u2014 not realizing the Canucks had a game in Colorado that night.<\/p>\n
Despite the initial disappointment of being traded, Buium is grateful to the Wild for how they treated him and still finds himself rooting for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been that person to hold a grudge unless there\u2019s bad blood in the water, which there isn\u2019t,\u201d Buium said a few minutes before taking an Uber to DU\u2019s campus Tuesday to hang with former teammates \u2014 who are Frozen Four-bound again this year \u2014 and other friends. \u201cThose guys, you get so close with them, and Billy treated me incredibly right from the very beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, they were able to trade for Quinn Hughes. I get it. I know it was a short period of time, but I just loved everything about Minnesota. It was tough getting that call from Billy, but you have so much respect for him, and I just want to see those guys succeed. So it was tough, but I know what they\u2019re trying to do over there. They\u2019re trying to win a Stanley Cup, and I hope they get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buium said being so young, \u201cyou\u2019re so delusional a little bit, and you just believe you\u2019re going to be in that place forever. I wanted to, for sure, and I think everybody knew that I really embraced what it meant to be a Minnesota Wild player. I think they have such a great thing going there, a great culture. \u2026 But when a page closes, the next one opens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossi and \u00d6hgren feel the same.<\/p>\n
This is a new opportunity with an organization that believes wholeheartedly in them.<\/p>\n
Rossi, to be blunt, didn\u2019t feel that the last year in Minnesota. There were trade rumors for two consecutive years, and he was well aware they weren\u2019t just rumors. His agents were honest with him that one reason it was so difficult to get a contract done with the Wild last summer was that he was likely being shopped.<\/p>\n
So even after Rossi agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract in August, he knew he was very easily tradeable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel that energy (by them) when my contract was coming up, so even though I was pumped to re-sign, you don\u2019t really know if they love you,\u201d Rossi said. \u201cSo it was really hard to know what to believe and what not to, so when I got traded, you were sad, but on the other side, you were really happy knowing Vancouver really wanted you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossi scored 24 goals and 60 points last season, so he was blindsided when he was dropped to the fourth line in the middle of the first game of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it bothers you,\u201d he said. \u201cIn that moment, you\u2019re always thinking team first, but I thought I had a really good regular season. I mean, 60 points, and then just after one game, they\u2019re making a decision like that. It just showed me they had, like, no respect for me. I told them, so that was their decision. But that\u2019s in the past now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossi was traded to the Canucks at the tail end of a foot injury after playing 82 games in each of the prior two seasons. He admits that he probably came back too early because he wanted to debut. He played eight games, scoring only a goal and two points. He never felt 100 percent, then took a shot in the same spot and aggravated the injury. He didn\u2019t play from Jan. 2 until after the Olympic break began on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt never healed,\u201d Rossi said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s very frustrating. Especially when I got traded, you want to play so bad, and you want to show the fans what they\u2019ve got, and you just don\u2019t want to miss a game. And maybe it was a little bit too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has 15 points in the past 14 games and is starting to feel more like himself playing on a line with Brock Boeser and Drew O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n