Biography
NHL: Selected by the Minnesota Wild in Round 1 (12th Overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft ... Signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Wild on April 13, 2025 … Made his NHL Debut in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Series at Vegas on April 20, 2025, becoming the first Minnesota player to make their debut in the postseason … Recorded his first professional point with an assist in Game 3 vs. Vegas on April 24, 2025.
Honors and Awards: 2024 NCAA National Champion … 2024-25 Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick Finalist ... 2x AHCA (West) First-Team All-American (2023-24, 2024-25) … 2024-25 USCHO.com Player of the Year … NCHC Player of the Year (2024-25) ... 2x NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year (2023-24, 2024-25) … NCHC Rookie of the Year (2023-24) … 2x All-NCHC First Team (2023-24, 2024-25-unanimous) … 2023-24 NCHC All-Rookie Team (unanimous) … 2x NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team (2024, 2025) … 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional Most Outstanding Player … 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional All-Tournament Team … 2x NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team (2024, 2025) … HCA National Player of the Month (November 2023) … HCA National Rookie of the Month (April 2024) … NCHC Player of the Month (November 2023) … 2x NCHC Rookie of the Month (December 2023, March 2023) … 6x NCHC Defenseman of the Week (Nov. 27, 2023; Jan. 22, 2024; March 4, 2024; Nov. 18, 2024; Jan. 13, 2025; Feb. 3, 2025) … NCHC Rookie of the Week (Dec. 4, 2023) … DU’s Bill Masterton Team MVP (2024-25), Keith Magnuson Best Defensive Player Award (2024-25) and Barry Sharp Freshman of the Year Award (2023-24) … Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Award watch list and finalist (2023-24) … Hobey Baker Award nominee (2023-24) ... 2024-25 NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team (unanimous selection)
School Record Book: Ranked 10th in both career points (98) and assists (74) by a defenseman in school history … Tied for fifth (50, 2023-24) and seventh (48, 2024-25) for the most points in a single season by a defenseman … Ranked fourth (39, 2023-24) and seventh (35, 2024-25) for assists in a single season by a defenseman … Tied for ninth for goals in a single season (13, 2024-25) by a defenseman … Holds record for the most assists by a freshman defenseman (39, 2023-24), while his 50 points as a rookie are the third-most by a rookie blueliner.
2024-25: Tied for the NCAA lead in scoring among defensemen with 48 points (Boston University’s Cole Hutson) and was Denver’s first Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick Finalist since Bobby Brink in 2022 … One of 14 repeat All-Americans in DU history and joined teammate Jack Devine as the school’s first repeat first-team members since Henrik Borgstrom in 2017 and 2018 … Finished third on the team and tied for 11th in the country in points … Ranked second among all skaters in the nation with 35 assists, trailing only teammate Jack Devine (44) … Scored a career-high 13 goals, tied for third-most in the nation by NCAA D-men … Registered multiple points in 13 games and recorded three points in a game five times during the year … Picked up points in 30-of-41 games he played … Tallied 38 points (13g/25a) in the final 31 outings and 16 points (7g/9a) in the last 14 games … Finished third in the NCAA in average ice time (27:03) … Ranked second on the Pioneers in penalty minutes (44), third in blocked shots (50) and fourth with a +17 plus/minus rating … Named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Northeast Regionals after combining for five points (2g/3a) in wins vs. No. 2-seed Providence and No. 1 Boston College on March 28-30 in Manchester, N.H., to help Denver secure its second-straight Frozen Four berth … Tallied in both outings of Regionals to stretch his goal streak to a career-long three games from March 22-30 (3g/3a) … Scored his fourth game-winning marker of the year and produced two assists on March 28 vs. PC … Netted an empty-net goal and added an assist and four blocks in the Regional Final vs. BC on March 30 … Began the campaign with three assists in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage, with each helper coming on the power play … Recorded his first career hat trick with three goals on Nov. 15 at North Dakota … Became just the 10th Pioneer defenseman to record a hat trick—the first since Ryan Caldwell on Feb. 14, 2004 vs. Minnesota State and the first to do it on the road since Ian DeCorby on Dec. 29, 1990 at St. Cloud State … It was the first of two DU hat tricks during the season (Sam Harris, Feb. 8 at Arizona State) and the first by a Denver player since Jack Devine tallied four times on March 10, 2023 vs. Miami … It was his second of three career multi-goal games and marked just the third, three-goal outing by a rear guard in NCHC history—Western Michigan's Ronnie Attard had the previous two (Oct. 19, 2021 at Colgate; Feb. 4, 2022 at Colorado College) … Also recorded three points on Nov. 9 vs. Lindenwood (0g/3a) and Jan. 10 vs. Miami (1g/2a) and finished his collegiate career with 10 such contests … Began the season on a three-game point streak (0g/5a) and produced 10 points (0g/10a) in his first eight games (Oct. 5-Nov. 2) … Had a season-high +4 plus/minus rating on Oct. 26 vs. Wisconsin … Played in his 50th career game on Nov. 2 at Yale and recorded his 50th career assist on Nov. 22 vs. Arizona State … Scored on his 19th birthday on Dec. 7 at Western Michigan ... Totaled four points (1g/3a) in the road series at Miami on Jan. 10-11 in his return from the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, earning his second of three NCHC Defenseman of the Week awards of the season … Picked up weekly top D-man honors on Feb. 3 after scoring the game-tying goal on Jan. 31 and recording three assists on Feb. 1 vs. Omaha … Also named Defenseman of the Week on Nov. 18 following his hat trick performance at North Dakota on Nov. 15 … Recorded a career-high 12 penalty minutes on Feb. 15 vs. North Dakota … Served a one-game suspension by the NCHC on Feb. 21 at Miami ... Tallied two power-play goals in Game 2 of the NCHC Quarterfinals vs. Colorado College on March 15 for his third career multi-goal game … Recorded a pair of assists in Game 3 vs. CC on March 16 … Scored in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship vs. Western Michigan on March 22 … Blocked two shots and skated 51:41 of a possible 80:26 of ice time vs. WMU in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals on April 10 in St. Louis, Mo. … Became the fifth Pioneer and third DU defenseman to be named NCHC Player of the Year and was the first Pioneer to repeat as NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year since Joey LaLeggia in 2014-2015 … Finished his career ranked 10th all-time in scoring by a DU defenseman with 98 points (24g/74a), the most by a Pioneer blueliner in their first two seasons since Greg Woods had a pair of 52-point campaigns as a freshman and sophomore in 1975-76 and 1976-77 … Also finished 10th in Denver’s record book for career assists by a D-man (74) … Attended the Minnesota Wild development camp prior to the season in July 2024 ... Took part in USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp and Summer Showcase in July/August in preparation for the 2025 IIHF World Juniors that was coached by Denver’s David Carle.
2023-24: Recorded the first 50-point season by a Denver freshman since 1983-84 (John McMillan, 57; Dwight Mathiasen, 51) after leading the team with 39 assists and adding 11 goals as the second-youngest player in college hockey … First 50-point season by a freshman defenseman in the nation since at least 2002-03 … Finished second on Denver in scoring as his 50 points marked just the sixth time a D-man reached the half-century mark in the program’s 75-year history and ranked third all-time by a freshmen rear guard behind only Craig Redmond’s 54 points in 1982-83 and Greg Woods’ 52 points in 1975-76 (ranked 10th overall by DU freshmen skaters) … Became the first blueliner to lead the team in the assists since Will Butcher in 2016-17 (30), as his 39 helpers were the fourth-most in a season by a DU defender and the most ever by a freshman defenseman in school history … Was Denver’s first freshman All-American since forward Henrik Borgstrom in 2017 (first team) and the first freshman defenseman in program history to earn All-American accolades ... Ranked fifth among all rookies, 10th overall and first among all defensemen in the NCAA in scoring … His 39 assists were third most in the nation (also third by a freshman) and the most among all D-men … Led all Denver defensemen with 11 goals, the most by a rookie blueliner since Joey LaLeggia also had 11 in 2011-12 … Registered 12 multi-point games and tallied three or more points on five occasions … Tied for the team lead with his brother, Shai, and ranked fourth in the NCAA with a +33 plus/minus rating—the highest ever by a Pioneer since the statistic first began being tracked in 2005-06 … Tied for second on the team in power-play scoring with 14 points (1g/13a) and added one short-handed assist … Third on the Pioneers with 41 blocked shots and finished with 20 penalty minutes … Made his collegiate debut on Oct. 7 at Alaska Fairbanks … Recorded his first career point with a goal and added an assist later in the game for his first multi-point outing on Oct. 8 at UAF, which also began a three-game assist/point streak (1g/3a) … Recorded the longest point streak of the season by a Denver player with a 12-game run (4g/17a) from Nov. 3-Dec. 9 (ended Jan. 12 vs. St. Cloud State), the longest such stretch by a defenseman in NCHC history (since 2013-14) and the longest by a Pioneer since Bobby Brink had a 14-game streak from Dec. 31, 2021-Feb. 19, 2022 (7g/21a) … Courtesy of College Hockey News, it was the longest point streak by a freshman defenseman in the NCAA in more than 21 years (online databases presently only go back to 2002) and bested the previous long of 11 outings in a row by Boston University’s Lane Hutson from Dec. 11, 2022-Feb. 6, 2023 (3g/16a) … Also produced a personal-best five-game assist streak, with him totaling 10 helpers from Nov. 25-Dec. 9 … Had his first multi-assist outing with two helpers on Nov. 11 at Arizona State and recorded a then-career-high three points (1g/2a) the next game on Nov. 17 vs. Omaha … Became just the second NCHC freshman and first rookie defenseman to be selected as an the NCHC Player of the Month after leading all conference players and tying for first in the nation with 14 points (3g/11a) in November (North Dakota forward Brock Boeser, March/April 2016) … Selected as NCHC Rookie of the Month in December after recording seven points (1g/6a) in four games and also earned the honor in March (co-winner) after registering 11 points (2g/9a) in 10 contests … Selected as the Hockey Commissioner’s Association National Player of the Month for November (co-winner) and Rookie of the Month for April as well … Had a team season-best +5 plus/minus rating and registered a career high in points with four assists on Nov. 25 vs. Yale, tied for the most helpers in a game during the season and the most by a DU freshman defenseman since 2002 … It marked just the third instance since 2016 by a rookie D-man in the NCAA (Boston University’s Lane Hutson, Feb. 3, 2023 vs. Maine; Minnesota’s Brock Faber, 5, March 27, 2021 vs. Omaha), courtesy of College Hockey News … Overall, his four assists were the most since defenseman Kyle Mayhew on March 11, 2023 vs. Miami and tied for the third-most in a game by a DU rear guard in school history (12th time) … It was just the 14th time that a DU defenseman recorded at least four helpers in a game and marked just the fifth occurrence in the last 20 years since 2004-05 … Matched his season/career high in points with one goal and three assists on Jan. 20 at Omaha … Scored in consecutive games for the first time by also tallying in the following contest on Jan. 27 at North Dakota … Named NCHC Defenseman of the Week three times and was once selected as Rookie of the Week on Dec. 4 (1g/2a), the same day that his brother, Shai, was recognized as Defenseman of the Week—marking the first time in conference history that a pair of brothers were honored for a weekly award on the same day … Had an assist and blocked a career-high seven shots on Feb. 2 vs. Western Michigan—the most blocks in a game since Justin Lee also had seven on Jan. 14, 2023 vs. Miami … Had three-point outings on Dec. 9 at Western Michigan (0g/3a) and March 22 vs. St. Cloud State in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals (2g/1a) … Recorded his first career multi-goal contest and tallied his first game-winning and overtime-winning goal in the conference tournament semifinals vs. SCSU … Also recorded an assist in Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota Duluth on March 15 and in the Frozen Faceoff Championship Game vs. Omaha on March 23 to finish the conference tournament with five points (2g/3a) and earn All-Tournament Team recognition … Made his NCAA Tournament debut on March 28 vs. Massachusetts in the NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals … Registered an assist on both the game-winning goal on March 30 vs. Cornell in the NCAA Northeast Regional Final and on the insurance goal in the NCAA Championship Game vs. Boston College on April 13, picking up his 50th point … Finished the season with 16 points (4g/12a) in the final 15 games … Played in 42-of-44 games during the campaign, with the only two outings he missed (Jan. 5-6 vs. Niagara) was while with the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden … Attended USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase prior to the season in July/August 2023.
International: Won gold medals with the United States at both the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships ... Served as an alternate captain on USA's National Junior Team in 2025 ... Averaged the second-most ice time among all players at the tournament (25:13) and finished with five points (3g/2a) in seven games, including assists on both the game-tying and overtime-winning goals in the championship final vs. Finland on Jan. 5, 2025 ... Registered five points (3g/2a) in seven games at the 2024 World Junior Championship, including scoring in the third period of the Gold Medal Game vs. host Sweden on Jan. 5, 2024 … Was the youngest player on Team USA’s roster at the 2024 World Juniors and was the first DU player to win gold at the U20 event since Bobby Brink in 2021 ... Represented the United States after the 2024-25 season at the IIHF World Championship in Herning, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden ... Recorded six points (1g/5a) in seven games while helping Team USA to a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship ... Helped USA to gold medals at the 2021 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament in Finland and 2022 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament in Michigan … Earned a pair of silver medals at the 2021 Four Nations Tournament in Slovakia and 2023 Four Nations Tournament in Finland.
Before Denver: Played two seasons at the U.S. National Team Development Program after spending his first two years of high school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep in Faribault, Minn. … Led all team defensemen with 40 points (5g/35a) in 63 total games for the U.S. NTDP Under-18 Team in 2022-23 and registered 12 points (2g/10a) in 23 USHL games with the NTDP during the year … Participated in the 2023 Biosteel All-American Game … Tallied 13 points (4g/9a) in 49 games with the U.S. Under-17 Team during the 2021-22 NTDP campaign, recording five (2g/3a) in 32 USHL outings … Totaled 49 points (8g/41a) over 99 career games at Shattuck-St. Mary’s from 2019-2021, including recording 33 points (6g/27a) in 43 games in 2020-21 … Played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings in 2018-19 and the Anaheim Jr. Ducks in 2017-18 where he participated in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Tournament.
Personal: Name pronounced “Boo-y-YUM, Zee-v” ... Son of Sorin and Miriam … Has two older brothers, Ben and Shai … Played with brother Shai at Denver as a freshman in 2023-24 … Was the second-youngest player in NCAA Division-I men's hockey as a freshman in 2023-24, turning 18 years old on Dec. 7, 2023 (Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini turned 18 on June 13, 2024) ... Rated as the top American-born player and ranked No. 4 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting for the 2024 NHL Draft ... Recorded the most pull-ups (16) at the 2024 NHL Scouting Combine in June 2024 ... Mother, Miriam, played professional women’s basketball in Israel … First attended high school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault, Minn., before graduating from Michigan International prep school in 2023 … Career goals are to win an NCAA National Championship and have a successful career in the NHL and win Stanley Cups … Enjoys hanging out with friends, playing basketball and golfing in his spare time.
Why DU: “I chose the University of Denver because of the culture that is built in place, and I believe this is the place you can come in and develop as both a student-athlete and person. Also, this is the place to come to when you want to win a national championship.”
