After the first full AHL season, Buium knows more about storage for itself in 2025-26

Regardless of the environment, Buium likes to compete and expects himself a lot – especially in his own development. The 22-year-old defensive player, selected by the Red Wings with the 36th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Admission Draft, scored 25 points (2 goals, 23 assists) in 67 regular season games for Griffins in 2024-25.

“Last year was a study year for me,” Buium said. “College hockey is very different than professional hockey, so just learn professional games and get comfortable there. As the season goes on, I get better. I’m really excited about this year to do what I can do and try to send it to the NHL.”

For Buium, the biggest adjustment to professional hockey after three seasons at Denver (2021-24) was to understand the real power of the correlation between Off-Ice work and performance on ice.

“Take good care of your body and your body stays away from the rink,” Buium said. “You play in college on Friday, Saturday, and then you have a full week of rest. You play 36 regular season games, each game is a playoff game,” Buium said. [in college]but this is not taxing the body like professional hockey. Here you may be studying halfway through the season and have to keep dialing. No days of vacation. ”