Once considered a first-rounder, Wild fourth-round pick Aron Kiviharju wants to be steal of the draft

Aron Kiviharju knew he probably wasn’t going to get drafted in the first round.

The second round might have been out of the question, too.

But Kiviharju felt his name should have been called before the Wild used the 122nd pick in the fourth round to add the Finnish defenseman.

And Kiviharju let President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin know as much.

“You made the biggest steal of the draft,” Kiviharju told Guerin on the NHL draft floor last month at Sphere in Las Vegas. “I promise you that.”

Kiviharju’s message went viral on social media after being captured on video by the Wild, but the prospect could have been in the spotlight much earlier.

A projected first-round pick a year ago, Kiviharju had his profile plummet after a knee injury stalled his season — a setback, however, that hasn’t shaken his confidence.

“Let’s prove that I’m not a fourth-rounder, that I’m better than that,” he said.

Why Kiviharju was trending toward an early selection among the 2024 draft class was clear.

He already had an impressive résumé as a teenager competing in Finland’s junior league for TPS, one of the country’s most successful programs; twice, he’d turned in almost point-per-game seasons from the blue line. Kiviharju also had a brief stint in Finland’s top men’s league and represented Finland internationally.

His dad, Jani, played professionally in Finland, France and Denmark, where Kiviharju was born.

“We have the same kind of character,” Kiviharju said, “… but he was a fourth-line rat, and I’m not that type of guy. I’m more skillful, more like a playmaker than he was. But he’s a triple champ in Finland, so I got a lot to achieve if I want to make it better than what he did.”

Jani, who scouts Finland for the NHL team in Utah, was the one who switched Kiviharju to defense after he started as a forward.

“We were so small that nobody could pass the puck,” Kiviharju recalled. “So, he said, ‘If you’re a defenseman, you get to be more with the puck.’ Obviously, that made sense, so I’m a defenseman now since I was maybe 8 years old.”

And a successful one at that.

Going into last season, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Kiviharju was buzzed about as a potential first-rounder.

Not only is he an effective puck-move out of his zone, but he can quarterback a power play.

“That’s his strength, how smart he is,” said fellow Wild prospect Rasmus Kumpulainen, who played with Kiviharju when they were younger. “[He] makes breakouts look easy.”

But Kiviharju couldn’t showcase this style much leading up to the draft: Only seven games into last season, Kiviharju dislocated his kneecap when his skate got caught in the ice while shooting one-timers after practice.

He missed 200 days before suiting up at the Under-18 World Championship with Finland, a return that was interrupted by Kiviharju getting cut by a skate on the throat in his first game. After getting stitched up, he was back on the ice only half a period later.

“Hockey is the biggest thing for me,” Kiviharju said. “I love the sport. I will do this for the rest of my life, for sure.

“But life is more than just hockey.”

Although he was playing again, Kiviharju wasn’t at his best at the World Championship tournament.

The 18-year-old said at Wild development camp last week he’ll be 100% by the time next season starts. He’ll be with HIFK, which is the same team forward Mikael Granlund skated with before he joined the Wild.

Kiviharju actually watched the Wild growing up, waking up early on Wednesday mornings to catch the third period of games.

“I ended up with the best organization for me,” said Kiviharju, who doesn’t regret what he told Guerin at the draft.

He knows his strengths and understands what he can get better at; Kiviharju believes improving his skating will help him advance his career.

“I still feel that was the right thing to say [to Guerin],” he said, “to show that I’m willing to do everything to get there, to be part of the Minnesota Wild, and then win a Stanley Cup.”

When Kiviharju envisions a future in which his dream has come true, that’s what he’s accomplished.

“Winning is the only thing that we’re here for, to win and be better every day,” he said. “So, winning the Stanley Cup here and the State of Hockey to get their first Stanley Cup, that’s what we’re here for.”