Top 5 Oilers World Junior Championship performances of all time

The World Juniors are in the air!

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship is nearing the end, it seemed like a good time to go back in time and look at some of the best performances by Edmonton Oilers players throughout history.

This year, the Edmonton Oilers sent two representatives to the annual holiday tournament, defenceman Asher Barnett for Team USA. As well, forward David Lewandowski for Germany.

Barnett is an 18 year old defender playing for the University of Michigan in the NCAA and was the Oilers fifth round pick at the 2025 NHL Draft. He was chosen as one of eight defencemen to represent his nation at the 2026 World Juniors.

David Lewandowski was also an Oilers 2025 draft pick, chosen in the fourth round 117th overall from the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was the Oilers No. 9 ranked prospect heading into the season and he looks to be a big piece of the German roster.

5. Taylor Hall 2010

As a contender for the first overall pick, Taylor Hall was selected to play for Canada at the 2010 World Juniors. He was one of a number of draft eligible players to participate and of course Hall lead them all in scoring.

Through six games, he amassed 12 points (six goals, six assists) for Canada and came second in scoring for his country and third in tournament scoring altogether. It was a performance that made many realize just why he was so highly touted.

It was also a great showing as Canada captured Silver with Hall factoring in, scoring one goal and two assists in the gold medal game but his country could not defeat the Americans who won 6-5 in overtime.

Later that June, Oilers general manager at the time, Steve Tambellini, would approach the podium with the first overall pick and select Hall.

4. Wayne Gretzky 1978

At just 16 years old, future Oilers and NHL great Wayne Gretzky was chosen to represent Canada at just the second official tournament (fifth unofficially). Canada had medaled at every tournament up to this point but was without the elusive gold, winning silver three straight years. The Soviet Union on the other hand had captured every single gold up to this point.

Gretzky had already earned the moniker 'The Great One' and was slated to be a big piece for the Canadians even though he was younger than anybody else in the tournament. There were many big name players involved with future greats like; Sergei Makarov, Slava Fetisov, Pelle Lindbergh, Rick Vaive, Mats Naslund, and more.

Playing in six games, Gretzky would live up to his hype, leading the entire tournament in scoring with 17 points, potting eight goals and a tournament lead nine assists. Despite his individual efforts, Canada finished in third place, capturing the bronze medal.

3. Al Montoya 2004

Although an Oiler for a brief time during the twilight of his NHL career, Al Montoya had an incredible career as a Junior and Collegiate hockey player, so much so that he was taken as a top 10 pick at the 2004 NHL Draft. He went on to be selected sixth overall by the New York Rangers, where he spent most of his NHL career backing up Henrik Lundqvist.

One of the biggest reasons that Montoya was so highly regarded was for his performance backstopping Team USA at the 2004 World Juniors. Although the team boasted talents up front like Zach Parise and Ryan Kesler, it was the play of Montoya that stole the show. Through six games he had a perfect 6-0-0 record with a 1.33 goals against average and .944 save percentage with two shutouts.

Him standing on his head was an enormous factor in USA capturing gold, especially when facing formidable opponents such as the Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin led Russians and the Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby, Jeff Carter, etc. led Canadian squad. It was the incredible individual play that places Montoya so high on this list.

2. Jordan Eberle 2009/2010

This may be Canadian and Oilers bias but almost no individual player seems so synonymous with the World Juniors tournament as Jordan Eberle. In large part because of his famous game-tying goal against the Russian junior team in the semi-finals with five seconds left. It is a goal that will forever be remembered, coupled with Gord Miller's "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?" call. It is like Crosby and Olympic men's hockey, they just fit together. Eberle's heroics in 2009 were massive, helping Canada keep their gold streak alive.

Through six games in 2009, he scored six goals and seven assists for 13 points. He was third on the Canadian squad and across the entire tournament in scoring behind forwards and fellow countrymen Cody Hodgson and John Tavares.

His performance will forever be remembered however, it was the following year in 2010 where Eberle would truly show off his dominance, scoring eight goals and five assists for 13 points in six games. It is the same point total but this time was second in scoring and tied for first in goals as well, Canada failed to capture gold, winning silver instead. Individually, Eberle took home plenty of hardware as an all-star, best forward, and tournament MVP.

Although a bit of a copout, it is hard to choose between both years with 2009 having the team success and directly caused by Eberle's heroics. In 2010, Eberle was dominant and won plenty of individual awards and Canada was still great, winning Silver.

1. Jesse Puljujarvi 2016

At the 2016 World Juniors, there were a number of future stars like; Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Mitch Marner, Dylan Strome, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, David Pastrnak, and more.

Despite the hype surrounding these players, it was one specific line for the Finland junior team that stole the show. The trio of Patrik Laine - Sebastian Aho - Jesse Puljujarvi was electric. Specifically Jesse Puljujarvi displayed his high end skill, creating chances and lead in tournament scoring with five goals, 12 assists for 17 points in seven games.

Given his performance at this tournament, he lead in both points and assists and he earned multiple awards. He was named tournament's best forward, tournament MVP and to the all-star team. As a team, Finland captured gold as well in large part due to the efforts of Puljujarvi and his line.

Both Puljujarvi and Laine would go on to be high selections at the 2016 NHL Draft with Laine being chosen second overall by the Winnipeg Jets and Puljujarvi fourth by the Oilers. Their lights out performances at the World Juniors will live on for years.