Minnesota summers suit Wild prospect Aron Kiviharju fine

Hockey was invented in Canada, and Team USA has won two consecutive World Juniors titles, so when players from other nations face off against the best from North America, theres no need for a big pregame speech to get their blood pumping.

After the 2025 World Juniors in Ottawa ended with the Americans beating Finland in overtime to win gold, nobody has to remind the Finns on that team now facing the 2026 host nation means just a little bit more even in a scrimmage in July.

ADVERTISEMENT Always, not just because of what happened last year in the final, Ottawa.

When you get to play against the North American teams, U.S.

and Canada, its always a big thing for us Europeans, said Team Finland defenseman Aron Kiviharju, a Wild prospect playing at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis this week and vying to play for his country again this winter.

While he has yet to experience the full brunt of a Minnesota winter, Kiviharju is getting accustomed to Minnesota summers and has designs on making a living here between September and May.

Born in Denmark and raised in Raisio, Finland, Kiviharju, 19, was picked by the Wild in the fourth round, 122nd overall, in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

He spent two weeks here in the summer of 2024 for Development Camp, and returned for the teams 2025 Development Camp this summer.

As much as he likes wearing the red and green of the Wild, being back in Minnesota in Finlands blue-and-white sweater is something special.

Its always an honor and privilege to wear the Finnish jersey and especially in the town that might be my future hometown, he said following Finlands 3-2 win over Team USA Blue on Monday afternoon at Ridder Arena.

Its an honor to be here representing a prospect of the Wild here in the (state) of Minnesota, so its definitely awesome.

Listed at 5-foot-10, Kiviharju is a puck-moving defenseman who looks at home in a quarterback role on the Finnish power play, which scored twice on Monday.

He was projected by some to be a potential first-rounder, despite his average size, before a serious knee injury limited him to just seven games in the 2023-24 season.

He fell to Round 4 in large part because of the injury, which had him off the ice for more than 200 days, but many experts said the Wild got a steal in terms of potential.

ADVERTISEMENT Back on the ice and skating at full strength physically, Kiviharju said that the psychological hurdles in his recovery were formidable.

That was the worst part of the recovery at the time, when I was not playing, he said.

Right now, its fine, and Im so much stronger mentally, also physically, but especially mentally.

The time I had to do 200 days without playing hockey taught me a lot about life.

Kiviharju will be back in Finlands top pro league this winter with a few weeks off to play for a medal in Minnesota, he hopes and could join the Wild organization a year from now, depending on the NHL clubs development timeline for him.

We were pleased with his progress last season with IFK, where he will be playing again this year, said Brad Bombardir, the Wilds director of player development.

We felt that he was one of the best performing defensemen in his age group at last years World Junior Championships and will be relied on heavily once again at this years WJCs.

Asked for an NHL player he tries to emulate, Kiviharju first mentioned Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, widely regarded as the best in the business, but added that he patterns his game more after Rangers blueliner Adam Fox.

Not being the tallest, not the strongest, not the fastest guy on the ice, but kind of like try to be at the right place at every time, Kiviharju said.

(Fox) tries to locate himself well on the ice, always right decisions, stay on the proper side, and not doing fancy stuff, but still doing stuff that helps your team win.

If there is one place that Kiviharju and the Wild seek improvement in his game, its skating.

ADVERTISEMENT His skating continues to improve and must continue to do so, Bombardir said.

Defending, ending plays and disrupting pucks in the D-zone, as he moves up levels, will be a big focus for him, along with building a habit of getting pucks up ice quicker on neutral zone transitions when the opportunity is there.

He is a hard-working and very determined young man, so we know he will do the work to continue to improve.

Kiviharju has already has gotten used to Twin Cities life a little bit, and this week he arranged a visit by the entire Finnish team to his favorite Minneapolis restaurant, J.D.

Hoyts.

He has every intention of being back here in December wearing the blue and white of his nation, and a job here wearing a Wild sweater is the long-term goal.

Its not lost on the teams latest Finnish prospect that the only retired number hanging from the rafters at Grand Casino Arena belongs to a Finn.

If somebody says Minnesota Wild, the first name that pops out is Mikko Koivu.

What hes done for this city and the organization of the Wild, its amazing, Kiviharju said.

Finland will face Canada next at 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday at Ridder Arena.

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