The Edmonton Oilers are preparing to play their second-last pre-season game on Wednesday, and as training camp nears its end and player cuts keep coming, former University of Alberta Golden Bears centre Noah Philp is relishing the chance to keep battling for a roster spot.
“(I’m) learning every day,” the 26-year-old Canmore native told Global News this week.
“It’s been a blast being out here. I’m loving coming to the rink.”
Philp’s return to the Oilers organization this offseason is somewhat of a renaissance for his hockey career.
The former Western Hockey league player spent the 2022-23 season playing for the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate the Bakersfield Condors, where he scored 19 goals and chipped in 18 assists in 70 games. But then he took the next season off.
“What leaving did that was great was it made it feel so fresh again,” Philp said.
“(It) feels like my first time coming to the rink.”
Now, it appears Philp is left competing with Drake Caggiula and Raphael Lavoie for the 13th forward spot on the Oilers’ roster as the countdown to the NHL regular season is nearly complete.
With Philp impressing after a year off, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch suggested it has been an improbable training camp success story.
“To be this far along the process, is quite surprising,” he said.
Derek Ryan, who has mostly held the Oilers’ fourth-line centre spot over the past couple of seasons, is the only other right-shot centre at the team’s training camp aside from Philp.
“Having more opportunities to put guys in there, to take those defensive zone draws and not just (have that) be on DR’s (Ryan’s) shoulders, I think that helps his cause,” Knoblauch said of Philp.
In four pre-season games with the Oilers, Philp has won 28 of 47 faceoffs he’s taken part in. He won nine of 11 draws against the Seattle Kraken over the weekend. He has also scored a goal and picked up an assist.
Philp suggested that his offence seems to come when he is also playing well without the puck.
“I have noticed when I’m playing harder defensively, it fuels my offensive game as well,” he said. “I find they go hand in hand.
“I’ve just been enjoying it. I think the more that I do that, the better I play and the less I worry about where I am or where I need to be.”
On Tuesday, the Oilers announced six more players have been cut from camp, but Knoblauch noted that he hopes every player who does not make the club’s opening night roster remembers the team may provide them opportunities down the road.
“During the season, there’s going to be times where, one, there’s injuries, or, two, we just don’t like how our team’s playing and we need a little something,” he said.
“We’ve talked to the players about what they provide. … Go down there and play to that identity.”
The Oilers will face off against the Kraken at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Wednesday night before taking on the Canucks in Vancouver on Friday.
Knoblauch indicated that he expects veteran defenceman Darnell Nurse to play in at least one game, and possibly in both games. Nurse, who has been dealing with an injury, has been practicing with the Oilers throughout training camp but has yet to play in a pre-season game.
— with files from Slav Kornik, Global News