VANCOUVER — For those prone to intense bouts of sticker shock, stop following the transaction tickers for professional sports. Your cardiologist (and therapist) will thank you.

In a National Hockey League in which Cale Makar just re-signed for $20.4-million-US per season and a 21-year-old centre named Leo Carlsson recently boxed his team into an $18-million average salary, does it make sense that the Vancouver Canucks on Friday committed $75-million over eight years to second-year defenceman Zeev Buium?

Absolutely. Buium may turn out to be more than half as good as Makar.

Truly, the most surprising number involving Buium, the 20-year-old San Diegan who was drafted 12th by the Minnesota Wild just two years ago, is not the $9.38-million average salary he will start drawing in the 2027-28 season, but the 76 NHL games he has played so far as a promising but far-from-proven player.

Under new general manager Ryan Johnson and co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin, the Canucks have placed a massive, calculated bet on Buium, who was the centrepiece in the haul of assets Vancouver received last December for trading superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes to Minnesota.

Fun fact: The Canucks were able to re-sign Buium before the Wild re-sign (or not) Hughes.

Fun fact No. 2: Unlike Hughes, Buium is unconcerned about trying to play in the NHL with his brother, Shai, who is on the Detroit Red Wings’ minor-league team.

Zeev Buium’s eight-year contract extension, at the end of this summer like no other for individual salary escalation in the NHL, comes just 11 days before a change in the league’s........

© Sportsnet