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)
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.
