Tom Brady’s alternate with New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft following his choice within the sixth spherical of the 2000 NFL Draft by which he advised the then-59-year-old billionaire that he wouldn’t remorse selecting him is without doubt one of the finest underdog success tales in fashionable sports activities.
The Minnesota Wild hope the identical occurs for 2024 fourth-round decide Aron Kiviharju, who had a “Brady second” himself with group GM Invoice Guerin on the draft ground after the group chosen him with the 122nd total decide in final week’s draft.
In contrast to Brady, Kiviharju started his draft 12 months as a possible top-five decide.
He was coming off a breakout 2022-23 season by which he scored two targets and 20 factors in 22 video games with U20 SM-sarja within the Finnish junior league, plus a three-goal, 19-point efficiency with the Finnish U18 group throughout worldwide competitors, displaying top-four defenseman potential.
However a big knee harm derailed his 2023 season, limiting him to only a handful of video games as his draft inventory took a critical hit.
If Kiviharju regains his pre-injury kind, Guerin may appear like a genius for getting the 18-year-old blueliner when he did. Many scouts consider Kiviharju could possibly be a future first- or second-pairing defenseman.