Oilers prospect Park impresses with work ethic; Hage displays well-rounded game for Canada
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Saturday was the seventh and final day of the World Junior Summer Showcase to help determine the rosters for the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, to be held in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
MINNEAPOLIS — Aidan Park can’t stop smiling, even after getting six stitches in his lip after the United States’ game here Friday.
And the Edmonton Oilers forward prospect has good reason to be happy. Since he was passed over in the 2024 NHL Draft, things have been on a giant upswing for him.
The 19-year-old was fifth in the United States Hockey League with 66 points (33 goals, 33 assists) in 55 games with Green Bay last season.
Then he got an invitation to the World Junior Summer Showcase this week at Ridder Arena, where he had one assist in three games. He didn’t play in the United States’ 6-2 loss to Canada on Saturday in the final game.
Not long after getting the summer showcase invite, the native of Newport Beach, California, made a last-minute decision to attend the 2025 NHL Draft, solely because L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles was near his home.
While other draft hopefuls wore suits, Park arrived in a hoodie and shorts. He was as surprised as everyone else when the Oilers selected him in the seventh round with the second-to-last pick (No. 223) of the draft on June 28.
“I guess I’ve gotten good fortune recently,” Park said. “Just trying to make the most of the opportunities that I get and that I’m really lucky to get.”
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That has included a few days in Edmonton at Oilers development camp and now an impressive stint in front of the U.S. coaching and management staff.
“He works,” U.S. coach Bob 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 said his goals for the rest of the offseason are to continue to improve his skating before his freshman season at the University of Michigan gets started.
“[The Oilers] said the biggest thing for me to improve on is my skating, and just maturing, getting bigger, faster, stronger,” he said. “It’s cliche, but it’s true. They really want me to improve my skating. I was just at [Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Minnesota] and I was skating with the Shattuck skating coach a lot. I’m going to have a skating plan when I get to Michigan, which will help me out a lot. So I’m just trying to do whatever I can to improve my skating and just my overall game.”
He’s also still riding the positive waves he’s gotten this summer.
“I think it’s definitely a confidence booster,” he said of all his good fortune. “But at the same time, I think I’ve always believed in myself. I’m just trying to work as hard as I can and just give myself the best shot possible to fulfill my dreams of playing the NHL. But, yeah, it’s definitely been a good confidence booster, and I’m hoping to build on it.”
Here are three things learned Saturday:
Michael Hage scored a goal in all four games for Canada at the summer showcase, but the Montreal Canadiens forward prospect was more interested in showing other aspects of his game.
“It’s obviously nice to get on the score sheet, but I think the biggest thing I just wanted to come here and show is how competitive I am,” he said. “I think at times, you can’t see through video how competitive and how hard a guy is. And I just wanted to come here this week and show that I’m a competitor, and I’ll do anything it takes to win. It’s obviously a bonus that I was able to help our group win and able to pot a couple.”
Hage (6-foot-1, 187 pounds) scored an empty-net goal in the third period on Saturday, outmuscling U.S. defenseman Luke Osburn (Buffalo Sabres) to get to a loose puck.
The 19-year-old is able to do that in part because of how much stronger he’s gotten after one season at the University of Michigan.
“I just feel a lot stronger than I did last year,” he said. “I’m able to be more dominant in areas of the game maybe I wasn’t at that time. It’s an advantage. Being in shape and being strong is part of the game, and it’s a really big part of the game. Just trying to continue to build in that area is a big thing for me.”
Top 2026 NHL Draft prospects Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Bjorck were Sweden’s youngest players, but coach Magnus Havelid said each stood out during their time at the summer showcase.
Neither had a point in Sweden’s 3-1 loss to Finland on Saturday, but Stenberg scored three goals in four games and Bjorck had one assist in five games.
Bjorck centered one of Sweden’s top two lines, and the 17-year-old saw time on the power play in each of his games.
“I’m very satisfied with Viggo,” Havelid said. “He’s the youngest player [with Sweden], but he doesn’t play like the youngest player. He’s so smart out there, and has great leadership actually as well. He’s smart. He helped us penalty kill, power play, 5-on-5. Hopefully he will develop a lot a lot before World Juniors.”
Havelid said Bjorck and Stenberg, a forward who will turn 18 on Sept. 30, looked right at home with the pace of play.
The next step is for them to continue at that high level when they get into the Swedish Hockey League season, Bjorck with Djurgarden and Stenberg with Frolunda.
“They will be an important part of my team, that’s for sure,” Havelid said. “We’re going to need them both.”
Finland coach Lauri Mikkola said what stood out about his team during its five games was how prepared it was from the drop of the puck on the first day of the event and how his players never slowed down.
“Guys were ready right away to play the game,” he said. “That attitude that they have when we come in here, they want to show who they are and how much the lion means in the chest and put it right away all in.”
Among the standout players was forward Aatos Koivu (Canadiens), who had seven points (six goals, one assist) in five games, including an assist in Finland’s win Saturday.
Koivu (6-1, 170), the son of former Montreal captain Saku Koivu, missed a chance to play at the 2025 WJC after contracting mononucleosis in the fall.
“There’s so much skill in that boy and now he’s getting out everything here,” Mikkola said of the 19-year-old. “He’s not thinking about too much, how many goals he’s going to score. He’s just going there and playing the game and doing hard work all the time, and then the points are coming up.”
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