Denver knew what they had in Zeev Buium from the moment he set foot on campus.

Head coach David Carle threw him right into the deep end, placing him on the Pioneers first pair alongside Sean Behrens from Game 1 of the season. And there he stayed, right to the last minute of the NCAA championship game, as he helped close out their 10th title.

Far from treading water, he thrived in that role. All told, Buium finished the season having played 1084 all-situations minutes, almost 20 clear of the next-highest skater, with two games in hand. Denver escaped his ice-time with a plus-31 goal differential,

Yet, it's not Buium's defensive ability that has captured the imagination of so many fans who cheer for teams with high picks in this year's draft. It's the 50 points in 42 contests, a record for first-time draft-eligible defencemen in college, that really gets them going.

Truly, there's a little bit of something for everyone in Buium's game. He's that well-rounded. The only question is what parts of his game will come with him to the NHL level and to what degree. Let's find out.