The Edmonton Oilers have sent Noah Philp back down to the AHL after a promising three-game stint with the club.
With Connor McDavid returning to the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights tonight, the team has opted to loan Philp to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. This comes just a day after the team did the same to Drake Caggiula.
The move was announced by the Oilers on social media this morning.
The #Oilers have loaned forward Noah Philp to the @Condors. pic.twitter.com/H8ZbwWaNSh
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 6, 2024
Philp gained a lot of fans in his short stint in the NHL. He had a fantastic training camp with the Oilers this season and, despite missing all of last season, looked right at home in an NHL lineup.
The 25-year-old Alberta native impressed with his ability to make plays and get to the right places on the ice. In his three games, he was rewarded with his first-ever NHL point, assisting on a Corey Perry goal against the Nashville Predators last week.
For an NHL rookie, he also wasn’t too bad in the faceoff circle, winning 14 of the 29 draws he took for a success rate of 48%. It’s a disappointing, but not unexpected, move to see him go back down to the AHL. He looked fine in that fourth-line role and, honestly, looked more effective than Derek Ryan has this season.
The decision probably came down to the fact that the Oilers wanted to maximize the amount of cap space they are accruing ahead of the trade deadline, and sending Philp back down was the easiest way to do that. Otherwise, they would have had to put Ryan on waivers.
Getting back to Bakersfield where he will likely play a more feature role is probably the best move for his development at this point. There is a good chance Oilers fans will see him play more NHL games as the season progresses.