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Shai Buium

Atlantic Notes: Pitlick, Buium, Lightning Game, Boqvist

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Depth forward Tyler Pitlick is still working on a professional tryout contract with the AHL’s Providence Bruins but that shouldn’t last much longer. Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports the Boston Bruins are expected to work out a contract of some kind with Pitlick, while other teams remain interested.

It’s been two years since Pitlick put together a quality season in the NHL as last season’s one-year agreement with the New York Rangers was forgettable. He did score seven goals and 16 points in 61 contests for the St. Louis Blues in the 2022-23 season while averaging 10 minutes of ice time per night which is likely what the Bruins are looking for.

If Boston does sign Pitlick to a deal for 2024-25 it will likely be a two-way contract. The Bruins have room to upgrade their bottom six but wouldn’t likely utilize Pitlick for the entire season. The most games he’s played in a single season was 80 back in the 2017-18 NHL season.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Detroit Red Wings are gaining some defensive depth with their AHL affiliate to start the year. The organization announced they activated defenseman Shai Buium from the season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Buium will begin his first season in professional hockey after signing his entry-level contract with the Red Wings at the end of last year’s NCAA season. He finished his collegiate career at the University of Denver with 14 goals and 75 points in 120 games with two National Championships.
  • The second half of the home-and-home between the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning will not go as scheduled. The Lightning announced Saturday’s game at Amalie Arena has been postponed as the western side of Florida continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Milton which made landfall yesterday evening.
  • Florida Panthers senior digital content manager, Jameson Olive, shares that defenseman Adam Boqvist will not play tonight as he continues to recover from taking a puck to the face in the team’s most recent game against the Bruins. Boqvist’s absence means veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt will debut with the Panthers tonight as they square off against the Ottawa Senators. The organization hopes that Boqvist can return in Saturday’s matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.

Snapshots: Ehlers, Demko, Zelenov, Buium

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Earlier in the offseason, there was a fair amount of trade speculation surrounding Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers although a move never materialized.  Now in the final season of his seven-year, $42MM contract, the 28-year-old is now extension-eligible leading some to wonder if the fact he wasn’t traded could mean there are positive signs towards a new agreement.  That doesn’t appear to be the case, however, as GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link) that they are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to contract talks for Ehlers.  While he allowed for the possibility of in-season discussions, he noted that they might wait to address it until after the upcoming season.  Ehlers had 25 goals and 36 assists in 81 games last season, his best offensive performance since when he was on his entry-level contract.  It appears Cheveldayoff may be wanting to wait to see if that will be repeatable under new head coach Scott Arniel before beginning extension talks.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Canucks don’t have a target date in mind for Thatcher Demko to return from his knee injury, head coach Rick Tocchet told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. However, the bench boss acknowledged that the netminder is excited about how his recovery is progressing and that he has been improving over the past two to three weeks which is certainly a positive sign.  Vancouver has been looking at free agents to see if there’s a viable option to bring in as insurance but as of yet, they haven’t been able to reach an agreement with one.  Arturs Silovs, who took over the starting job in the playoffs, is in line to open the season as Vancouver’s starter assuming Demko won’t be ready to play by then.
  • Sabres prospect Vasili Zelenov has committed to play for Wisconsin, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was a seventh-round pick in June, going 204th overall after a strong season in Austria that saw him record 37 points in 40 games. Zelenov is set to suit up for USHL Green Bay this season and will likely look to make the jump to Wisconsin for the 2025-26 campaign.
  • Red Wings prospect blueliner Shai Buium was injured today after taking a shot off the ankle, relays Max Bultman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team is hopeful that he will be able to take part in Detroit’s training camp but it’s too early for that to be known just yet.  Buium is getting set for his first professional season after spending the last three years at the University of Denver.  He finished up his college career on a high note with 36 points in 43 games last season before making his debut with AHL Grand Rapids for one game.

Red Wings Sign Shai Buium To Entry-Level Deal

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10:37 a.m.: Buium’s deal carries a cap hit of $925K, per PuckPedia. He’ll earn a base salary of $832.5K, a $92.5K signing bonus, and a minors salary of $80K each season.

9:48 a.m.: The Red Wings announced that defense prospect Shai Buium has signed his three-year, entry-level contract. The deal begins next season, although he’ll finish 2023-24 on an amateur tryout with AHL Grand Rapids. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Detroit selected Buium in the early second round (36th overall) of the 2021 draft. The 21-year-old turns pro after three seasons at the University of Denver, recording an assist in last weekend’s national championship game as the Pioneers won their record 10th NCAA title. He also won a championship with DU in his freshman campaign.

He doesn’t have the ceiling of his younger brother, 2024 projected top-10 pick Zeev Buium, but he’s still a legitimate prospect. He totaled 14 goals and 75 points in 120 games with Denver over the past three years with a +61 rating, including a standout 36-point, +33 rating campaign this year. The latter tied with Zeev for the fourth-best in the country, while his point total was good enough for eighth place. He was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team in 2022 and took home conference Second All-Star Team honors this season.

A strong-skating puck-mover, Buium likely isn’t ready for NHL action yet. He’ll need at least one full season of development in Grand Rapids but should challenge for NHL call-up duty at the very least by the end of his ELC. The 6’3″, 220-lb left-shot blue-liner has a pro-ready frame, though, and there’s a good chance he could step into top-four minutes in the minors next season. He was ranked 11th in an incredibly deep Red Wings prospect pool by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler earlier this year, who projects him to top out as a steady third-pairing piece at the NHL level.

Buium’s ELC will expire in the 2027 offseason, at which point he’ll be an RFA. The Red Wings will control his rights for three further years until he becomes automatically eligible for unrestricted free agency as a 27-year-old in 2030.

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