In recent years, Edmonton Oilers fans have become accustomed to not having many prospects from their favourite team to follow during the IIHF World Junior Championship.
Operating with a win-now approach, the Oilers have traded away a significant number of prospects and draft picks, leaving the organization without much in the way of elite under-20 talent.
This was evident during the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, which took place from July 27 to Aug. 2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., featuring teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.
Around 130 players were part of the exhibition series in Minnesota, but just one was an Oilers prospect: Aidan Park of the United States.
With just four months to go until World Juniors, Park appears to be the Oilers’ only hope for representation when the annual tournament takes place Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
Park Is Making an Impression
A 6-foot-1 centre from Newport Beach, Calif., who played high school hockey in Faribault, Minn., at Shattuck St. Mary’s, the 19-year-old Park appeared in three games at the World Junior Summer Showcase. He recorded an assist, was assessed two penalty minutes, and received six stitches in his lip.
His statistics don’t exactly jump off the page, but Park’s efforts on the ice did seem to leave an impression on U.S. head coach Bob Motzko.
“He works,” Motzko said. “He’s just had an honest work ethic about him every day, and seems to keep getting better. … He’s one guy that has just been consistent in his compete level and his work.”
Park Is a Long Shot for Team USA
There were 23 forwards at USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase camp, so all things being equal, Park has about a 50% chance of making the final roster.
But all things are not equal, of course, and the right-shot centre is definitely a long shot to compete at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Following the Summer Showcase, Flo Hockey released its projected Team USA roster, including 14 forwards. Park was not one of them, which is not at all surprising, and in fact, is probably how this story is supposed to go.
Park Is the Ultimate Underdog
By now, Park’s incredible underdog story is pretty well known in Oil Country and around the NHL, but for the unfamiliar, here’s a quick summary:
In his first year of eligibility for the NHL Draft, 2024, Park went unselected, and it looked like he was going to be passed over again at this year’s draft in his hometown of Los Angeles, before the Oilers took him with the second-to-last pick, 223rd overall.
Related: Oilers’ 7th Round Pick Aidan Park Is Feel-Good Story of the 2025 NHL Draft
When the Oilers called his name at the Peacock Theatre, Park was in the audience, dressed in shorts and a hoodie. “I wasn’t really expecting to come today,” he told the media after being selected. “But I figured, because I live here, why not?” It was the feel-good story of the draft, and firmly established Park’s reputation as the ultimate underdog.
Park Is Going to Michigan
Park wasn’t invited by USA Hockey to be part of the World Junior Summer Showcase last year, and his inclusion this year might have been a bit of a surprise to some. But Park clearly turned a few heads during the 2024-25 season with his play for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he racked up 33 goals and 33 assists in 55 games to finish with the fifth most points in the league.
He’s now off to the University of Michigan, where he’ll join the powerhouse Wolverines men’s hockey team for 2025-26. Once again, Park will have to show through his in-season performance that he’s deserving of a greater opportunity. The odds of Park getting invited to the United States World Junior camp in December probably aren’t great, but then again, who’s betting against this kid?
One thing’s for sure: if Park makes the final roster for Team USA, even Canadian Oilers fans won’t be able to help but cheer for the Americans.
“The World Juniors means everything,” Park told TSN during the Summer Showcase. “I’ve been watching it since I was a little kid. It’s Christmastime, so me and my whole family, we watch it every year, and if I was given the opportunity to play in that tournament, it would be really special.”
