Outrage Over Oilers Losing Philp on Waivers Missing Key Context

The Edmonton Oilers losing Noah Philp on waivers Monday has sparked the typical overreaction from fans that comes with saying goodbye to a player for nothing. When a player is claimed, there’s no return beyond the cap space freed up with said player now off the books. In Philp’s case, that’s a managable $775K, making the sting just a little more obvious. That said, is the frustration among fans warranted?

Maybe not.

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Philp, a 27-year-old right-shot forward standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 198 pounds, was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes after appearing in 15 games for the Oilers this season. He finished with two goals and three points, bringing his NHL total to 30 games across two seasons. There’s potentially something there, but at 27 years old, the jury is still very much out on what kind of player Philp might become in the NHL, assuming he becomes one at all.

To date, his best production has come in the AHL, where he has posted 72 points in 130 games. His NHL résumé is hardly something to get overly worked up over.

Context matters here.

Philp is older than several forwards currently in the Oilers’ system, including Vasily Podkolzin, Josh Samanski, Ike Howard, Quinn Hutson, Matt Savoie, and others, many of whom are closer to regular NHL duty or already playing in the NHL. And, while Philp was one of those unicorns in that he was a right-shot center with size, he was also rarely trusted with more than 10 minutes per game and hadn’t carved out any kind of specialty role. Thought to be a potential penalty killer, he was actually put in the box already this season to kill a bench minor. That’s what the coach thought of his PK abilities.

No doubt, Philp has some untapped potential upside. But, at 27, it’s hard to imagine there was a lot more time to give him before results were expected.

More Teams Passed on Philp Than Those That Didn’t

The bigger picture also undercuts the outrage. As Jason Gregor pointed out on Sports 1440, nearly every NHL team passed on Philp. Only one club (and potentially three others) needed to say yes, and Carolina was the one to do so. That doesn’t automatically make it a case of disastrous asset management.

Gregor further points out that this is business in the NHL, and the Oilers have seen their share of waiver wins. Waiver claims work both ways — Edmonton has benefited from them before and lost players the same way. That’s the business. Troy Stecher went out, but Kasperi Kapanen and Alec Regula are waiver pickups for Edmonton.

Could Philp still develop into an NHL regular? Possibly. He skates well, has size, and may get a better opportunity in Carolina’s system. But that outcome is far from guaranteed. Losing him isn’t franchise-altering, nor does it dramatically change Edmonton’s trajectory.

If anything, the bigger concern isn’t losing Philp — it’s the Oilers’ ongoing tendency to favor aging veterans over younger, cheaper options with upside. Still, treating this waiver loss like a major blunder feels like an overreaction.

Could the Oilers Claim Him Back?

It’s worth noting that, should the Hurricanes discover that Philp is the player they’re taking a flier on in this waiver claim, they could place him back on waivers. And, given Carolina is dealing with an injury to Seth Jarvis, that’s a real possibility when the roster gets healthy.

In such an instance, the Oilers get the first crack at taking the player back, which they might. This is a player the Oilers liked, and probably figured might slip through. They didn’t “like him” enough to call him more than a depth piece and weren’t prepared to lock in a spot for him on the main roster.

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