Flyers will regret not drafting Zeev Buium one day

The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the better ran teams in the National Hockey League right now. What their new regime has come in and done has been great.

Although they came up just short of the playoffs last season despite holding a slot for most of the year, they believe that they have a very bright future.

At the 2024 NHL Draft, however, they made a huge mistake. They traded the 12th pick of the first round to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for one slot later (13) and a third-round pick.

With that 12th overall pick, the Wild took defenseman Zeev Buium out of Denver University. Buium was a Gold Medal winner with Team USA at the World Junior Championships along with winning the Frozen Four with his Denver Pioneer teammates.

The Philadelphia Flyers should have drafted Zeev Buium in the first round

This is a decision that the Flyers will regret forever. They took forward Jett Luchanko with the 13th overall pick and he seems like a great player. However, the things that Buium can do from the blue line are incredible and will be noticeable in the NHL immediately.

What is it that Buium does so well? For one, he has proven that he can defend the top players in the opposition. He was a big part in shutting down the big boys at Boston College in the National Championship. He also provides a ton of offense with his playmaking ability.

The fact that the Flyers could have had this guy is going to be a terrible look in five years when he's elite with the Wild. It shows why Minnesota has been mostly good over the last decade or so. They aren't perfect and haven't won it all yet but they run their team very well.

Buium was projected to be a top-five pick and fell a little bit. Teams that passed on him won't be happy about it down the line but only one team traded away from selecting Buium and that's the Philadelphia Flyers. They must pray that Luchanko proves to be worth it.