Four Wild Prospects to Compete at 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa

Daily Game Notes

12/26/24:

Zeev Buium: skated game-high 24:12, recorded plus-3 rating and one shot in Team USA’s 10-4 win vs. Germany.

Aron Kiviharju: team captain skated team-high 20:19 in Finland’s 4-0 loss to Canada.

Rasmus Kumpulainen: alternate captain notched one shot in 11:20 of TOI in Finland’s 4-0 loss to Canada.

Sebastian Soini: did not play vs. Canada.

12/27/24:

Aron Kiviharju tallied an assist and two shots on goal in 18:22 of TOI in Finland’s 3-1 win vs. Germany.

Rasmus Kumpulainen and Sebastian Soini did not play for Finland.

12/28/24:

Zeev Buium tallied a goal, one shot, a plus-2 rating and skated a game-high 23:53 in Team USA’s 5-1 win vs. Latvia.

12/29/24:

Zeev Buium skated a game-high 28:33 in Team USA’s 4-3 overtime loss to Finland.

Aron Kiviharju registered three shots in 19:41 of TOI in Finland’s overtime win vs. the United States.

Rasmus Kumpulainen collected four shots and an assist in 16:24 of TOI for Finland.

Sebastian Soini recorded one shot in 9:48 of TOI for Finland.

12/31/24:

Zeev Buium recorded an assist and one shot in a team-high 22:57 of TOI in Team USA’s 4-1 win vs. Canada. The United States will play Switzerland on Thursday in the quarterfinal round.

Aron Kiviharju tallied an assist and three shots in a team-high 21:26 of TOI in Finland’s 3-0 win vs. Latvia. Finland will play Slovakia on Thursday in the quarterfinal round.

Rasmus Kumpulainen recorded two shots in 12:37 of TOI in Finland’s win.

Sebastian Soini collected two shots in 14:23 of TOI for Finland.

1/2/25:

Zeev Buium recorded two points (1-1=2), two shots on goal and skated a team-high 20:28 in Team USA’s 7-2 victory vs. Switzerland. The United States will play Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday.

Aron Kiviharju collected one assist and one shot on goal and skated a team-high 21:05 in Finland’s 5-3 win vs. Slovakia. Finland will play Sweden in the semifinals on Saturday.

Rasmus Kumpulainen tallied the game-winning goal and two shots in 13:15 of TOI in Finland’s win.

Sebastian Soini did not play.

1/4/25:

Zeev Buium skated game high 29:12 in Team USA’s 4-1 win vs. Czechia. The United States will play Finland in Sunday’s championship game.

Aron Kiviharju recorded three shots and skated a team-high 24:19 in Finland’s 4-3 overtime win vs. Sweden. Finland will play Team USA in Sunday’s championship game.

Rasmus Kumpulainen collected three shots in 14:59 of TOI in Finland’s win.

Sebastian Soini did not play.

1/5/25 (Gold Medal Game):

Zeev Buium tallied the primary assist on the game-winning goal in Team USA’s 4-3 overtime win vs. Finland to help Team USA win the gold medal for the second year in a row. Buium tallied two assists and six shots on goal in a game-high 27:58 of TOI.

Aron Kiviharju recorded two shots in 23:52 of TOI and Rasmus Kumpulainen collected two shots in 16:58 of TOI for Finland.

Sebastian Soini did not play.

The 2006 IIHF World Junior tournament will be held from Dec. 26, 2025 - Jan. 5, 2026, at Xcel Energy Center and 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota campus.

Player Stats

Zeev Buium recorded six points (2-4=6), a plus-10 rating, 11 shots on goals and averaged 25:13 in TOI in seven games for Team USA. He ranked second in the tournament in TOI/game.

Aron Kiviharju tallied three assists and 14 shots on goal in seven games and averaged a team-high 21:17 in TOI/game for Finland.

Rasmus Kumpulainen collected three points (2-1=3) and 15 shots on goal and averaged 14:15 in TOI/game in six contests for Finland.

Sebastian Soini notched three shots on goal in two games for Finland.

[December 24, 2024 3:15 p.m.]: The Minnesota Wild has four prospects participating in the 20205 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario, from Dec. 26 - Jan. 5.

Defenseman Zeev Buium will serve as an alternate captain for the United States Junior National Team. The 6-foot, 186-pound native of San Diego, Calif, was a member of the gold-medal winning team at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden and was selected by Minnesota in the first round (No. 12 overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft.

Defenseman Aron Kiviharju will captain Finland’s Junior National Team. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound native of Turku, Finland, was selected by the Wild in the fourth round (No. 122 overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft.

Center Rasmus Kumpulainen will serve as an alternate captain for Finland’s Junior National Team. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound native of Lahti, Finland, was selected by Minnesota in the second round (No. 53 overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Defenseman Sebastian Soini was also named to Finland’s Junior National Team. The 6-foot-2, 187-pound native of Tampere, Finland, was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (No. 140 overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft.

Next year’s tournament will be held from Dec. 26, 2025 - Jan. 5, 2026, at Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, and 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. All-session ticket packages for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, at 10 a.m. CT at iihf.com/en/events/2026/wm20.

2025 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Dec. 26

Germany vs. United States (1:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)
Canada vs. Finland (6:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Dec. 27

Finland vs. Germany (2:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Dec. 28

United States vs. Latvia (2:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Dec. 29

Finland vs. United States (1:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Dec. 31

Latvia vs. Finland (1:30 p.m. CT; NHLN will air at 2:30 p.m. CT on Jan. 1]
United States vs. Canada (7 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Jan. 2

Quarterfinal 1 (11 a.m. CT; NHLN,)
Quarterfinal 2 (1:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)
Quarterfinal 3 (4 p.m. CT; NHLN)
Quarterfinal 4 (6:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Jan. 4

Semifinal 1 (2:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)
Semifinal 2 (6:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)

Jan. 5

Third-place game (2:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)
Championship game (6:30 p.m. CT; NHLN)