One thing I believe that runs counter to most: NHL teams are often the problem when it comes to prospect development. These teams either don’t know what to do with the player (Linus Omark a famous example) or have others in the queue who are better or can do more things. The funny thing is, the stalling out often comes right at the point these men are plug-and-play. Why? I wrote the following about Omark in the summer of 2011:
By eye and by math he appears to be a real hockey player. A guy like Robert Nilsson looked all world with the puck one minute and then disappeared for the rest of the game. Omark flies sorties every shift. They don’t work out all of the time, but there’s a tremendous amount of try. He’s hard on the puck and works like a bugger. He can stickhandle in a phone booth and can beat people wide and inside. On a team with crazy skill, Omark is his own unique individual. He’s his own man, very confident and skilled.
The words on Omark are specific to that player, but the disconnect at the point where prospects reach the NHL is universal.
I think Noah Philp is such a player. He is a useful player with great utility, he has size, can PK, scores enough to project as a bottom-six NHL regular, and owns a cap hit of $775,000. He is also waiver eligible this fall. Philp is a RH center, that has high value. He does have some learning to do, as the faceoff performance in the NHL (39 percent) isn’t inspiring. Philp is a durable player, he can win battles and play a rugged game.
Last fall, Philp was solid in preseason (1-1-2 at five-on-five in six games, 57 percent faceoffs) and should be in the mix for the Derek Ryan role this fall. Not every player on a roster owns a complete skill set. I think Philp brings enough to the game to be considered for the NHL roster in Edmonton this fall.
On the Lowdown today, Jason Gregor will be the feature guest and we’ll talk Elks, Riverhawks, Stingers, Oilers of course (Rumors will have a juicy one at 12:20) and more. 12-2pm, Sports 1440. Hope you can tune in.
How could Oilers upgrade via waivers or preseason trades? 5 potential targets
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6545298/2025/08/11/oilers-roster-waiver-wire-trade-targets/
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I just re-watched all the Oiler goals from the 2017 playoffs. Man, we really had Anaheim on the ropes. The Oilers forwards with Maroon, Lucic, and Kassian were fierce and went hard to the net. It was the right template for a team with young skill at Center. In addition Drake Caggiula looked fast and gritty, and Slepyshev could play. Only Eberle was unable to produce and got moved out weeks later for Ryan Strome.
But then the wheels fell off. All of the aforementioned wingers the Oilers kept failed to live up to expectations and the team languished for two seasons.
What is worst case scenario for Oilers wingers in ‘25-‘26?
Savoie is ineffective 5v5, Howard is a AAAA player unable to score consistently in the NHL, Mangiapane under contributes, while Frederic, Podkolzin, and Kapanen have 4th line output.
Im betting at least two of them can play in the top-6 with 97, 29, 93, and 18, but there’s a chance we lack for depth scoring which wouldn’t be a new thing.
Caggiula could never shoot the puck. And you can’t skate it into the net in the NHL.
Coaching blew that 2017 series. Even with Eberle not living up to what he should have been.
That, and the weak 6D. They had 3 hockey players for 6 spots.
Imagine Linus coming along as a young gun in 2025.
He’d be on the cusp of a run tearing it up with Leon and becoming an absolute legend.
I worry about the team’s history of jettisoning players for which they build a dislike, and failing to realize the value in the players. Omark might not have fit with what management was looking to create in E-town, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have value. It’s like an inverse strategy to the pump and dump – the slump and dump. Use the player in a manner that highlights his weaknesses and deficiencies and thereby sewer his value on the open market.
The whole “management looking to create” thing is the problem.
— there’s lots of east coast MSM talking about McD signing for 2 or 4 years
— while I read this as code for “he should sign for the leafs” as a centre of universe hubris take
— anything other than max term is an organizational fail I won’t be convinced otherwise
— Plus new bargaining that won’t allow bonuses as tax deferal it’s now or never.
— 20 games into season, Oil sh!tng bed I be like “McD gone”
— It would be a tough betrayal of Drai his best buddy who signed long term
— Lots at stake. Don’t fall for the “a short term deal means Oil have to work harder to make the team a winner”. That’s BS. Fake narrative spin.
—Long term deal means as cap grows they accrue salary cap advantage during McDrai 8 year tenure
Put yourself in Connors shoes, what would you do?
Knowing that a significant top heavy team has seldom, or ever won a Stanley. How can you get paid enough yet still win?
Would you go for an 8 year deal at a lesser rate? That means years down the road you could be playing on a different team for a deep discount. You never intended to provide this discount to another team, it was for the Oilers and the Oilers window. (that includes Draisaitl)
Do you listen to your agent and take the top money?
Do you go for a lesser amount but limit it to 2-4 years? (12.5 – 14m range)
Im not trying to predict what Connor will do, but rather if there is a reasonable option to get reasonable dollars and still win the cup.
With Connor, Leon, Bouchard, Nurse holding such big contracts, do you believe they can win?
— a few things can be true
— Of course McD will sign what he wants max or short: they win in that time etc. he resigns again later maybe blah blah
— it’s just a massive fail for the organization to not lock him regardless of what McD does
— My gut is still sign for max as that’s what franchise players face of franchise guys generally do and sure bidness is bidness but it’s also relationships.
— Hard for him to look Drai in eye all time best buddy and team dynamics if his message is “I don’t trust the organization long term, I’m not committing long-term”. That’s not leadership.
— I’m however prepared for an Oil management fail and I won’t be tricked into anything other than they failed if not max.
— Put it another way: anything other than max contract is a fail of the organization vs how Florida did get max for their guys.
— what happens happens. But anything else is a fail for the organization: regardless of what we would think of McD.
Couldn’t agree more. Anything less than 8 years is one foot out the door.
If Tomasek makes the team as a utility infielder he could possibly be the 4C but I do think Lazar will have that roll and it’s his job to lose. I believe Philip is down the page and will need to see some injuries or Tomasek doesn’t pan out if he’s going to see many games.
Tomasek might be a guy they can plug in anywhere up or down the lineup on the wing or possibly at center. He’s certainly a player to watch.
Philp’s play was night and day in the A after he came back from his first call-up with Big Club. He was noticeable almost every shift and excelled at taking the puck to the inside. Confidence is a thing.
I think (hope) Philp can be the second coming of Kyle Brodziak. He absolutely should be given a full run to see what he can do on the 4th line.
Agreed.
Its impossible for me to waive Noah Philp and keep Janmark on the roster for close to double the cap hit. Of course, Janmark is more established and his defensive accumen more proven but I think Philp can do the job (and more being a real center and likely to score more) at more value for cap hit.
I could even throw Kapanen on that list of players that could/should be waived over Philp but their jobs are very different. Lets not forget, Kapanen fully earned many healthy scratches during the regular season and got over-capped to $1.3MM based on about 4 really good playoff games. I really like his game when he’s on but that’s rare during an 82 game season.
In any event, I hope management and the coaching staff don’t “default to Lazar” and give Philp a real opportunity – a run of 20 games at 4C (or even 4RW depending on how things break) with 10-12 minutes of 5 on 5 and some depth PK work – we’ll know what we have!
Agreed on both.
I like Kap but unless he shows another gear he’s still a tweener a la Liam Reddox (imo), with last year’s playoffs likely representing his absolute ceiling.
Philp as LT has a full range. It would be heading the wrong way to keep the highly inconsistent ‘looks like a player’ Kap over him. Janmark didn’t have the playofss he had the previous season, and basically didn’t do much of anything. PK was way off
When you find a younger but old enough to be ready RS C you take him, and give him the room and help to establish. He’ll figure it out
I’ve been waiting for Philp to grab that 4c for a while now. The problem is he’s not great at faceoffs. If he can’t figure out how to win draws consistently Lazar has proven he can. Philp may have to play on the wing. Lazar is comfortable on either wing if Philp should latch on to the 4c job. But really, it’s more like this season they have a 1A RH4C & a 1B RH4C which in my eyes isn’t a bad thing at all. I prefer both these players over Janmark & Kapanen on the fourth line. Tomasek is another name that could appear in the battle for RH4C.
Has it really been “a while” of waiting?
I mean, last season was his first season in the conversation (his first season back from his season off).
Lazar clearly is better at faceoffs in the NHL right now but he’s all over the place, below and above 50% from year to year. Note Lazar’s first 5 season of faceoff percentages make Nuge look an all-time faceoff great. It seems more than any other skill, faceoffs seem to require reps and Philp needs the reps – he had faceoff acumen at U o A, I believe, and did in Bako.
Tomasek, from accounts, is good on faceoffs, at lest over-seas. I agree he could be in play for 4C but I’m not sure he’s not going to get a shot on the 3rd line.
Just another thought, I like Kapanen but wonder if someone like Klim Kostin could provide everything that Kapanen does with more of a physical factor.
There’s the possibility we could see them fade Janmark, Kapanen & Henrique.
Klim is an fun guy, but he’s less of an NHL player than Kasperi, there’s no room for guys that can’t figure it out on a team like ours