By Tony Abbott -
It's August, and before we know it, the Minnesota Wild will be at training camp, then pre-season, then taking to the ice for an honest-to-goodness regular-season game. To get us through our final stretch of summer, we're bringing back Hockey Wilderness' Top Wild Prospects series for 2025.
Our definition of "Prospect" is any rookie-eligible player... with one exception. Since this is David Jiříček's first summer in the Wild system and isn't a full-time NHL player, we are including him in this series. We feel it's important for you to know where he stands. Still, we did not want to exclude a rookie-eligible player from the series, so we are expanding our series from a top-10 to top-11 this year.
We had six Hockey Wilderness writers weigh in and vote for their top-11 prospects, and while a lot of the names were the same... not all of us agreed on how the top-11 shook out. And in some cases, who was in the top-11. All in all, 17 prospects received at least one vote from our six-writer panel.
We want to make sure that everyone is accounted for and heard, so here are the six players who were voted for but fell short of making our list.
Riley Mercer, Goalie
Total Votes: 1
Highest Vote: 11th
Acquired: Free agency, 2025 (undrafted)
2024 Team: Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
2024 Stats: 46 GP; 27-15-4, .925 SV%
Leading Drummondville to a Memorial Cup win didn't turn enough heads for Mercer to get drafted in 2024, when he passed through the proceedings for the third time. But the Minnesota Wild liked him enough to give him a development camp spot last summer, and his final season of junior eligibility went well. That was good enough to give the 6-foot-2 netminder an entry-level contract.
How will his first year as a pro go? We'll see. It's very possible that Mercer starts off his career in the ECHL, with Cal Petersen and the next name on our list ahead of him on our list. Any 21-year-old goalie is going to be a project, so if Mercer works his way into the mix for the big club, it's going to be a few years out.
Samuel Hlavaj, Goalie
Total Votes: 1
Highest Vote: 11th
Acquired: Free agency, 2024 (undrafted)
2024 Team: Iowa Wild (AHL)
2024 Stats: 36 GP; 14-14-4, .904 SV%
While Jesper Wallstedt floundered with the Iowa Wild, Hlavaj stepped up as a rookie to become a stabilizing force. A .904 save percentage in the AHL only ranked 29th of 52 qualifying goalies, but considering that was behind a porous and inexperienced Iowa blueline, that's probably a better number than it looks like. It might be especially encouraging that he finished hot, with a .933 save percentage in his final 12 outings. He's also gotten work this summer, showing well for Team Slovakia in Olympic qualifiers and the World Championships.
At 24, Hlavaj is further along in his development than Mercer by a long shot, and with Wallstedt set to graduate to the NHL this season, Hlavaj has a great chance to seize the net full-time in Des Moines. Petersen's stats in the AHL were almost as bad as Wallstedt's, which suggests that Hlavaj gives the Baby Wild the best chance to win.
Aron Kiviharju, LHD
Total Votes: 3
Highest Vote: 11th
Acquired: Draft, 2024 (fourth round)
2024 Team: HIFK (Liiga)
2024 Stats: 52 GP; 4 goals, 16 points
Kiviharju fell in the 2024, going from a potential first-rounder to the fourth round, after which he promised Bill Guerin that he'd be the best pick in the draft. That hasn't happened quite yet, with him falling from No. 9 in last year's series to off the list entirely.
Is that fair? Maybe not. Not totally. In his first full season at Liiga, Kiviharju showed some of what made him highly-touted at one point, even in limited ice time. He's one of the most active defenders with the puck in Liiga already, ranking 13th among defensemen with 20-plus games with 97 passes per hour. He's also been able to thrive as a passer, even under pressure. The 5-foot-10 will have to shore up his two-way game, but his mobility is as-advertised.
David Spacek, RHD
Total Votes: 1
Highest Vote: 9th
Acquired: Draft, 2022 (fifth round)
2024 Team: Iowa Wild (AHL)
2024 Stats: 72 GP; 4 goals, 31 points
Spacek's made more headlines for what his father, longtime NHLer Jaroslav Spacek, has told the media than anything he's done. When the Wild traded for Jiříček last fall, that bumped him down to fourth, at best, for next year's depth chart behind his Czech countryman, Brock Faber, and Jared Spurgeon. That's a good problem to have if you're the Wild, but not as good for Spacek.
In his second AHL season, Spacek saw a jump in points from 0.20 per game to 0.43 with Iowa. The progression is there, and another bump this year can have him knocking on the door for a third-pair role just as Spurgeon enters his last season under contract. The question right now is whether he'll have the patience to stick it out until then.
Rasmus Kumpulainen, Center
Total Votes: 1
Highest Vote: 8th
Acquired: Draft, 2024 (second round)
2024 Team: Pelicans (Liiga)
2024 Stats: 48 GP; 8 goals, 16 points
I'll fess up: This one was me. And it doesn't have a ton to do with his production. As a rookie in Liiga, he played 15 minutes a night, but maybe wasn't totally ready for prime time. His point totals aren't great, and his Corsi was just 41.6%, albeit on a team that was mostly underwater.
But the fact remains is that Kumpulainen is a big, projectable center who has performed solidly when in his age group. He's got some sneaky skill and penalty-killing chops, which makes him a decent candidate to make the NHL. A strong year could put him on the Wild's radar for 2026-27.
Theodor Hallquisth, RHD
Total Votes: 2
Highest Vote: 7th
Acquired: Draft, 2025 (second round)
2024 Team: Örebro HK J20 (Sweden Under-20)
2024 Stats: 41 GP; 5 goals, 22 points
The Wild's first pick in 2025 got the closest to cracking our Top-11. As it stands, he's got some work to do. He'll be looking to make the SHL this season, but even if he does get a full-time role, it will be a while before he gets near the NHL.
Our own Neil Urbanski took a deep dive into Hallquisth back in July, highlighting his two strongest abilities so far: His passing and physicality. "He can be overaggressive sometimes and go for hits at the wrong time, leaving him unable to recover or hanging a teammate out to dry," wrote Urbanski. "But that’s common with young players. Good coaching and development can iron out the flaws in his game." In most seasons, Hallquisth might have snagged a spot in our top-11, but as you'll see in the coming weeks, it's a tough list to crack in Minnesota.
Our series starts on Wednesday with No. 11. Stay tuned.
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