While Ryder Ritchie is skating for one of Team Canada’s two squads at the Summer Showcase at Ridder Arena, two of his potential future teammates are suited up for Team Finland. Aron Kiviharju and Sebastian Soini have made the trip to the United States in order to represent their country at the Showcase with hopes of making the cut for the Under-20 World Championships in December.
For Soini, drafted in the fifth-round in 2024, it would be his second trip to the U20’s as he skated in two games last winter for Finland. He’s expected to continue his professional career with Ilves in the Liiga next season after playing nine games for them last year.
The 19-year-old Kiviharju is also looking to make it a second straight trip to the biggest junior spectacle of the season as he captained the Finnish squad last year. The 2024 fourth-round selection posted three assists for the squad last year as they finished with a silver medal.
The defenseman is being praised for his leadership skills on and off the ice as Finland’s head coach, Lauri Mikkola, told the media,
“He’s like one of the coaches how he talks with the boys, helping everyone. He’s a big person on the ice and off.”
It’s a slightly ironic turn of phrase as Kiviharju is listed at 5’10”, but that hasn’t stopped him from commanding the ice when he’s on it. Like Soini, Kiviharju is set to return to the Liiga following the Showcase. He appeared in 52 games for HIFK last season and recorded 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) during his first full season in Finland’s top professional league.
Both players will likely spend a couple of seasons in Europe before working their way over to North America and joining the Wild organization. For now, they will continue to develop in a pretty competitive professional league, and should they make Finland’s U20 team for the World Junior Championship, it’ll give fans and scouts a good idea of how they match-up with best-on-best competition with players in their age group.
The Summer Showcase continues through August 2nd, with all games at Ridder Arena, and available to view through USAHockeyTV.com.