Buium has started the season cold, with a single assist in his first ten games. As of writing, the Canucks are 2-7-1 with 30 goals, so the offense has yet to start firing on all cylinders team-wide, though Elias Pettersson is a point-per-game forward again, and veteran Filip Hronek has six points in as many games as Buium. So what could be causing the lull?

The simple answers are the classic ‘sophomore slump’ or that team in general is cold, but neither its perfectly fitting on its own. Ten games is a small sample size, and the first ten games of the year come with their own particular wrinkles as teams get up to speed, but we can see a few trends for these games for Buium that appear different than last. Firstly, Buium’s ice time is up to start the year vs the sum of last- 21:10 a night vs 19:35, but he is receiving only 32% of available powerplay time versus 48% last year.

Buium isn’t a volume shooter or hitter, and his pace for both this year (.80 and .10 per game) fall below the .96 and .37 last year. On the positive side, he continues to start more shifts in the offensive zone than any other Canuck.

Filip Hronek is playing 25:26 a night, and seeing 62% of the powerplay time, and equally as much on the penalty kill. This likely won’t continue, and the Canucks will definitely aim to give Buium every chance to get going and find his stride prior to his $9.38M per year contract kicks in. Buium is still a fantastic dynasty asset, and the offense will get going. The downside with Buium is that when he is cold like he is currently, he doesn’t supply much else- though in fairness he is averaging three blocks a game- and this could open up a long term buy opportunity as he nears the expiration of his farm status in many leagues, as well as his big pay day. Don’t sell too early, don’t over pay, now is a good time for fantasy managers to get an idea how he specifically fits into your fantasy plans over the course of the season.

Buium is one of the best prospects in the sport, regardless of position. He is a dynamic skater and one of the most impactful puck movers in hockey. He will absolutely start the year with the Wild and certainly be given every opportunity to showcase what he can do. Buium has not played a regular season game, only joining the club for four playoff games. The only question after his dominant career at the University of Denver was how he would adjust to NHL action and speed. In the playoffs against a hard-to-play-against Vegas Golden Knights, Buium quickly put those questions to bed. Buium has certainly risen to the top of the Wild’s prospect list, but also near the top of the league-wide prospect rankings.