Red Wings prospect Shai Buium has been activated off of the injured non-roster list and assigned to start his season with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 22-year-old defenseman was spotted earlier this week in a black jersey at Griffins’ practice, signaling a move like this was likely.
The 6’3” blueliner spent all of last season with the Griffins, earning 25 points in 67 games (two goals, 23 assists) while manning the left side of the second pair. Buium ranked among the AHL’s rookie defensemen leaders in points (11th), assists (6th), and power-play goals (6th), with both of his goals coming with the man advantage.
Shai is the older brother of current Vancouver Canuck Zeev Buium, the defenseman at the center of the Minnesota Wild’s trade for star blueliner Quinn Hughes. Drafted in the second round by Detroit in 2021, Shai played college hockey for the University of Denver Pioneers alongside his brother Zeev before making his pro debut last year for the Griffins.
Buium fills a much-needed hole in Detroit’s current development pipeline as a smooth skating, physical left shot defenseman. It will be interesting to see where Buium debuts for the Griffins this year, as the team is on an incredible record setting run, with a 28-1-1-1 win/loss tally on the season.
Veterans Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson, both players with 100-plus games logged in the AHL, have been manning Grand Rapids top pairing the majority of nights, with Gustafsson playing at a point per game pace at the moment.
While one high-end Red Wings prospect returns, another remains shelved
The debut of Buium however, does not seem to carry any tidings of another injured Red Wings prospect, Amadeus Lombardi. The young Griffins center stepped into a top line role this year after posting 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 44 games with Grand Rapids last year.
Lombardi was one of the Red Wings’ prospects many had eyed as a name that could surprise everybody by debuting with the main roster this year, but ultimately was sent back down to Grand Rapids to hone his defensive responsibilities.
Before his injury in November, Lombardi had 14 points in 13 games, proving that his offensive production from last year had not been a fluke, contributing to the Griffins' early success this season.
Lombardi was reported to have returned to skating activities alongside Buium in December, however he has not been taken off of the injured list as of yet. While the Red Wings are currently on a hot run, leading the Atlantic division, (on most nights) Lombardi would still be an intriguing name as a call up if, or hopefully when, he does return from injury.
Though a little undersized, Lombardi is fast and wily, making him hard to pin down on ice, which, combined with his vision with the puck makes him dangerous both as a set-up man and a primary goal scorer.
If Lombardi were to join the Red Wings at some point this season, he would likely be stepping into a bottom-six role. In the future, though, one wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the middle six, or even rotating up a line.