The Hockey News’s Jake Tye spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson and assistant coach Brian Lashoff recently, and Watson and Lashoff told Tye that they are big believers in the potential of defenseman Shai Buium (pronounced “BOO-yum”), who completed his rookie AHL season this past spring:
“I thought he had a great first year, the expectation was for him to go and train and have a really good summer, I talk to him the other day and he’s been doing that,” Watson said “So I’d love to see where he’s at at the start of the year, just a puck-mover, he sees the ice extremely well, could run on power play, so looking to see the stride that he’s made.”
Buium’s listed at 6’3″ and 220 pounds on EliteProspects, but he’s got long and lean arms, legs and a torso, so he could realistically put on another 5-10 pounds of muscle and not lose mobility.
Buium made his professional debut during the 2024–25 season with the Griffins, where he impressed by scoring a pair of goals and dishing 23 assists for 25 points over 67 games. Before turning pro, he was a standout defenseman at the University of Denver, recording 14 goals and 61 assists for 75 points with a +61 rating in 120 games. His collegiate career was littered with success as he was apart of two National Championship wins with the Pioneers in 2022 and 2024.
Longtime Red Wings and Griffins defenseman Brian Lashoff has spent the last two seasons behind the bench as an assistant coach, mainly operating as the coach for the defense, and has mentioned Buium as an exciting prospect to watch. Lashoff explained that Buium has taken big strides in his game saying “he definitely started to steadily progress throughout the season, he learned a ton playing pro for the first time, and he got better and better.”
Lashoff expanded on the topic by mentioning that he would regularly trust the young Buium with “big minutes” last season and that he has the potential to earn a spot with the Red Wings or a bigger role with the Griffins next season. He finished by explaining that he, like Dan, has heard very positive feedback about how Buium’s summer has been going and he’s looking forward to coming back in September and seeing the work he’s put in.
Continued; I’m not necessarily sold on Buium being Edvinsson 2.0, but I do know that he’s among the best of the crop of young defensemen that will be playing for the Griffins this upcoming season. He’s one to watch for sure.
