Capitals’ Ryan Leonard, Wild’s Zeev Buium, Lightning’s Isaac Howard named top three finalists for 2025 Hobey Baker Award

Three of the best college hockey players are the last ones in the running for one of the top individual awards in the game.

On Thursday, it was announced that Michigan State forward Isaac Howard, University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium and Boston College forward Ryan Leonard are the Hat Trick finalists for the 2025 Hobie Baker Memorial Award.

All three players have had fantastic seasons, and were pivotal reasons their respective teams made it to the NCAA tournament.

Buium is undoubtedly one of the most versatile players not playing in the NHL. The Minnesota Wild prospect was a catalyst for both the Pioneers during the season, as well as the United States, helping them win gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship back in January.

After posting an impressive freshman campaign that saw him score 50 points, Buium is on his way to reaching the half-century mark once again, leading all NCAA defenders with 48 points in 40 games. Buium and DU are gearing up for another trip to the Frozen Four, looking to win the national championship for a second consecutive year.

Two Denver defenders have won the Hobey Baker in the past, as Matt Carle (2006) and Will Butcher (2017) both were given the award.

Leonard, who is already in the NHL after signing a contract with the Washington Capitals earlier this week, was one of the big reasons the Eagles were the number one team in the country for most of the year. He led the nation in goals and might be the only player to reach 30 goals this season. Along with New York Rangers forward Gabe Perreault and Montreal Canadiens prospect Jacob Fowler, Boston College expected to make it back to the Frozen Four but ultimately fell to Buium and the Pioneers in the Manchester Regional Final last Sunday.

Three Eagles have won the prestigious award, the last being Johnny Gaudreau, who took home the Hobey in 2014.

Howard has been an enormous part of the renaissance of the Michigan State hockey program. Under coach Adam Nightingale, Howard’s game has flourished to becoming one of the best players in the Big Ten, and the country for that matter. Thanks to leading the conference in scoring, the Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. He finished the season fifth in the NCAA with 52 points and ended up tied for third in goals with 26.

The junior is trying to become the third Spartan to win the Hobey, joining the likes of former NHLers Kip Miller (1990) and Ryan Miller (2001).

While there is much discussion on who was left out, arguably the biggest snub from the final three was Buium’s teammate at DU, Jack Devine. The Florida Panthers prospect, who was named a top-10 finalist for the second year in a row, leads the country in scoring with 57 points in 43 games.

The winner of the Hoby Baker award will be announced next Friday during Frozen Four weekend in St. Louis.