An Edmonton Oiler prospect has won the Gold Medal at the World Junior Championship.
Although Paul Fischer’s playing time was limited, to say the least, Team USA won their seventh Gold Medal in tournament history. For the first time in their history, the team won back-to-back Gold Medals.
As for Fischer, the 19-year-old left-shot defenceman picked up an assist in the two games that he played in. However, he sat for the final four games including Team USA’s 4-3 overtime victory over Team Finland.
The Oilers acquired Fisher this past summer from the St. Louis Blues, acquiring him and a pick in exchange for future considerations. This season with Notre Dame University, Fischer has nine assists in 18 games as a sophomore.
He wasn’t the only Oiler prospect who spent the last couple of weeks in Ottawa, as Oilers’ second-round pick in the 2023 draft, Beau Akey, played for Team Canada. Like Fischer, Akey was used sparingly as the team’s seventh defenceman, with his only real playing time coming after top 2025 draft prospect Matthew Schaefer injured his shoulder in the second game of the tournament.
Neither player is eligible to return to the 2026 World Junior Championship that will be held in Minnesota. Moreover, the Oilers’ second-round pick in the 2024 draft, netminder Eemil Vinni, also won’t be eligible as his 20th birthday is just over a week before the tournament starts.
The only real Oiler prospect who has a shot at making the tournament, at least for now, is London Knights forward Sam O’Reilly. This season with the best team in the Ontario Hockey League, O’Reilly has 16 goals and 37 points in 35 games. Our very own Bruce Curlock wrote about the right-shot centre on Sunday, as O’Reilly capitalized on the ice time he got while three of his teammates played in the World Juniors.
Congratulations to Paul Fischer, and hopefully this is a sign that the Oilers’ farm system is on the rise. 
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