The blood of brotherhood transcends that of a hockey team for Wild prospect and University of Minnesota Duluth junior Avery Peterson.

After playing a key role in the University of Nebraska Omaha making a run to its first NCAA Frozen Four in program history in 2014, Peterson shocked his teammates by leaving Omaha midway through his sophomore year to return closer to his home of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

He wanted to be closer to his older brother, Evan, who is battling a rare, terminal genetic brain disease called Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, or MLD. It progressively deteriorates intellectual and motor skills, and affects about one in 40,000 people.

Wanting to play in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and for a strong program, Avery Peterson officially committed to Omaha in August of 2013, five months after his brother's diagnosis. At that point, he was largely out of the loop.

"I really didn't know. My parents kind of kept it away from us kids," Avery said. "I don't think they wanted it to affect us too much, but I knew there was stuff going on."

The Wild drafted Peterson in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. After finishing up his senior season at Grand Rapids High School, where he received Minnesota's 2013-14 Mr. Hockey Award, Peterson was a key offensive producer as a freshman at Omaha. He went on to record 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) for the Mavericks.

But his family -- and Evan -- were in the back of his mind from the get-go.

Read more at Wild.com.