Red Wings pick Shai Buium 36th overall

The Red Wings made a trade to kick off the second round of the NHL Draft…

? TRADE ALERT ?#DRWDraft x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/57UAm7w6LF— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2021

And Detroit gave up picks 38 and 128 to select Shai Buium 36th overall:

Great pick by Detroit. The Red Wings get Shai Buium, one of my favorite players in the @NHL Draft. @NHLNetwork— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 24, 2021

Red Wings pick Shai Buium from Sioux City (USHL) another big, mobile LHD — headed to University of Denver where he’ll play on the same blue line as Antti Tuomisto— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/9HHTHlci3R #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

#RedWings take D Shai Buium at 36. 6-3, 209, shoots left.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 24, 2021

Welcome to the #redwings @shai_buium— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/acmNbSxnF9 #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

Detroit still making excellent moves early on Day 2 – Shai Buium has a ton of potential on the blueline: great skater, lots of size and offensive awareness— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) July 24, 2021

With the 36th pick in the 2021 #NHLDraft, the #RedWings select defenseman Shai Buium.#DRWDraft x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/D8rrCXgoib— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/PVamroOah6 #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

With the 36th Pick of the 2nd round of the 2021 NHL Draft, the @DetroitRedWings select Shai Buium! #NHLDraft #DraftDay #WhosNext @USHL pic.twitter.com/DE7jVv1wZa— Sioux City Musketeers (@Musketeerhockey) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/dQy1OU1rlu #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/gn9ODg0otU #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

Red Wings select Shai Buium (D) from the USHL at #36. Profile: https://t.co/wiZrQhXHWf#LGRW— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) July 24, 2021

Wings draft so far essentially shapes up to high risk/high reward. If you have faith in your development team to get the best outcomes for these players, there’s a lot of potential here— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) July 24, 2021

Shai Buium put himself in the right places at the right times for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft #drwdraft https://t.co/oJMU8qBVbh— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/hjVcwjIy3l #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Reynolds profiled Buium:

As Shai Buium paces in the back of a Marriott Hotel, watching the NHL Draft bleed into the late hours, one thing will be certain. He will at least look the part of an 18-year-old about to get drafted on hockey’s biggest stage.

Buium will be sitting Friday night in a large meeting room in Detroit with his family and other members of the U.S. junior national hockey team, all of whom will be watching to find out when, not if, their name is called. His 213-pound figure will stand out even among the game’s best collection of youth talent. His University of Denver commitment, the preeminent hockey school in the country, will speak for itself.

He will have the pedigree and size that is a prerequisite among hockey’s brightest, young stars.

But the story behind what is sure to be a celebration this weekend — Buium is projected to be a late-first or second-round pick — is the knowledge that this moment was never supposed to happen.

Buium is the son of two Israeli immigrants who never played hockey. He is from San Diego, a city that rarely produces top talent in the sport. He was discovered by chance and has been overshadowed on nearly every team he has played on by those who were supposed to be NHL prospects.

Red Wings trade up with Vegas to select another big left handed shooting d-man. Shai Buium (pronounced Shy Boom) 6’3” 209 lb, Good size, good skater, offensive awareness, lots of potential just scratching the surface.
Seider, Edvinsson, Buium all 6’3” or taller. #redwoods— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) July 24, 2021

Here’s the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

The Red Wings moved up in the second round Saturday to draft Shai Buium, a defenseman headed to University of Denver.

Buium, a 6-foot-3, 209-pound left-shooting defenseman had four goals and 22 assists in 50 games with Sioux City in the USHL.

Buium is a good skater who has size and is good puck-handler, and can find gaps on the ice.

The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy profiled Buium back in March:

Shai Buium came by hockey the way so many other kids did – from an older relative. In the case of the Sioux City Musketeers defenseman and 2021 NHL draft prospect, it happened in California.

“My cousin lived down the road from us in San Diego, where I grew up,” Buium said. “He played hockey and when I was six, they would take me to his games and I fell in love with it. I asked my mom if I could play and she was hesitant, but she said OK and I started from there.”

Kids from California have been excelling in hockey for years now – call it the Gretzky Effect – but Buium’s lineage gets even more interesting if you go back further. His parents are both from Israel; they married after completing their mandated military time there and moved to Los Angeles, where Buium’s dad got into the HVAC business, eventually starting his own company. So Buium’s parents weren’t just hesitant about hockey – they barely knew anything about the sport.

But the call of the ice was strong for the Buium kids and now all three have carved paths in the game. Ben, the oldest brother, got the ball rolling and his journey actually played a big role in Shai’s development at the famed Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Minnesota.

“My brother wanted to go there and went to try out – and everyone knows about Shattuck and how great it is,” Buium said. “So when he made it, they said I could come as well. I had never even visited or anything, but I knew it would be a good place for me. I went and I never looked back.”

From Elite Prospects:

His hands and feet work independently, each transmitting different information to opponents. With changes of pace, fakes shots, and constant eye deception, turns exits into inside-lane entries, creates passing lanes, and hits teammates through heavy pressure. Give-and-goes with a space-filling mentality allows him to create scoring chances for himself or his teammates. -EliteProspects 2021 NHL Draft Guide

With the No. 36 pick in the 2021 #NHLDraft, the Detroit Red Wings select D Shai Buium of Sioux City. https://t.co/Y2uHjE947v

“A mobile, puck-moving defenseman with soft hands. He plays a strong two-way game. Uses his vision and smart positioning to contribute.” pic.twitter.com/C587bFZnYe— FCHockey (@FCHockey) July 24, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan weighs in:

The Red Wings took left-shooting Shai Buium with the 36th pick, moving up two spots in a trade with Vegas that sent picks 38 and 128 to the Golden Knights.

Buium (6-3, 209) played in 50 games for Sioux City in the USHL, picking up four goals and 22 assists. He began the season at Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep in Minnesota, where he had two goals and 11 assists in 17 games.

RedLine Report said of Buium: “Big, mobile defender came out of nowhere. Big upside. . . . Both imposing and highly mobile. Nobody came farther, faster as Buium left Shattuck Prep early in the season for the USHL and just took off. He’s willing to bang bodies and can skate the puck out of danger and go end-to-end. He’s got a huge point blast, makes rocket stretch passes, and has the vision to be a big offensive contributor.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James weighs in:

Rounds 2-7 begin Saturday at 11 a.m. Heading into the day, the Wings held picks at No. 38, 70, 102, 128, 134 and 166, though with the Arizona Coyotes forfeiting their own first-round pick because of combine testing violations, all picks come a slot earlier. 

Yzerman used his No. 38 and 128 picks to trade with Vegas to move up to No. 36. The Wings selected Shai Buium, a 6-foot-3 defenseman who shoots left. He had 26 points in 50 games last season in the USHL. 

More on Shai Buium pic.twitter.com/vdtirOLWF3— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) July 24, 2021

Correction on Shai Buium pronunciation…it’s not Shy Boom it’s Shy Boo-yhim Sorry folks.— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) July 24, 2021

36. Detroit takes LHD Shai Buium. SHALOM! San Diego kid. pic.twitter.com/bhS2JbDUes— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) July 24, 2021

Here’s Corey Pronman on Buium

Shai Buium, LHD, Sioux City-USHL

March 26, 2003 | 6-foot-3 | 209 pounds

Skating: Below-average
Puck Skills: Average
Hockey Sense: Average
Compete: Average

Buium kept progressing as the season went along, becoming an important part of a good USHL team by the end. Buium is a big defenseman with a high skill level. He has the stickhandling ability and creativity to inside-out checkers often off the rush or by making attacks off the offensive blue line. He has decent offensive instincts as a playmaker to find seams and make a first pass, although that aspect can be inconsistent in his game. Buium’s skating is a concern, though, as he will struggle with the pro pace due to his inability to escape pressure and play fast. He has a good defensive stick and hockey sense but due to the skating, I don’t see him as a top defender versus pros. In a sentence, Buium projects as a third-pair NHL defenseman with the potential to play higher in the lineup.

#RedWings second-round pick, D-man Shai Buium: “Growing up, Detroit was my favorite team when Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk were there. They were my two favorite players. It’s like a dream come true being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings.” SD native met Datsyuk at Ducks game— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 24, 2021

Shai Buium holding on to the puck is like every computer defenseman I play above the rookie level on @EASportsNHL21. https://t.co/L5TJ0TNfwI— Carlos Monarrez (@cmonarrez) July 24, 2021

Here’s a taste of the offensive upside that the #RedWings are getting in 6-foot-3, 214-pound defenseman Shai Buium

That pickpocket and rush at 0:34 is ? #LGRW

(? https://t.co/G9dSuSMxSr) pic.twitter.com/MfhqV79PhX— nolan bianchi (@nolanbianchi) July 24, 2021