- Aidan Park was sitting in the crowd in a hoodie and shorts when the Oilers drafted him 223rd overall in 2025
- His uncle Richard Park played 738 NHL games over 14 seasons with six teams
- Read below for Park’s take on the clip and what he’s chasing at Michigan
Aidan Park still hears about the hoodie.
The Edmonton Oilers took him with the 223rd pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, second to last, while he sat in the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles wearing a white hoodie and shorts. He wasn’t dressed up because he wasn’t expecting to be drafted. A year later, the 20-year-old is trying to make that clip the second-most interesting thing about him.
He talked about the clip with NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.
“I don’t think I’ll ever hear the end of it. That’s a super funny clip and I definitely won’t forget that.”
Watch the moment Edmonton called his name:
Park was only in the building to support his buddy Ryker Lee, who went 26th overall to Nashville the night before. Lee flew to Tennessee the next morning and was in the middle of a media session at Bridgestone Arena when his old roommate popped up on a TV screen behind him.
Lee stopped mid-answer when he spotted him.
“That was my roommate last year and he just got picked in shorts and a hoodie.”
There’s real hockey pedigree behind the punchline. Park’s uncle is Richard Park, the second Korean-born player to reach the NHL after Jim Paek, and he put together 241 points in 738 games across 14 seasons with the Penguins, Mighty Ducks, Flyers, Wild, Canucks and Islanders. He scouts for Minnesota now.
Richard described how the family found out his nephew had been picked.
“It’s my daughter who heard it first and she said, ‘Aidan just got drafted,’ and it was amazing.”
Uncle and nephew talk regularly, and Aidan leans on him.
“He played a long time in the NHL and he’s very knowledgeable. Whenever I need to give him a ring, he’ll answer.”
Here’s Park’s full draft-day availability with Edmonton:
His draft case was built in Green Bay, where he put up 66 points (33 goals, 33 assists) in 55 USHL games. He followed that with 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) as a Michigan freshman, on a loaded Wolverines team that lost a double-overtime Frozen Four semifinal to Denver.
Park attended his second Oilers development camp in June and heads back to Ann Arbor for his sophomore season. Edmonton has spent the summer sorting through its young forwards, including where Matt Savoie’s next contract stands.
The hoodie clip has a year of mileage on it now. Park’s job is to give people a new one.
