Oilers announce roster move to send forward to AHL, team may be leaning towards trade

Noah Philp had been called up to play a test-run of games to make his case for the playoff roster, but ended up being benched and scratched for most of the games

After tomorrow night's game against the Colorado Avalanche, the Oilers will be off until February 22nd for the 4 Nations Faceoff. The AHL will be playing games during that time, which will help Philp keep developing his game.

Hopefully Philp can take the sniff of the NHL over the last few weeks and dial up his play another notch with the Condors. One particular element he needs help with is faceoffs. It's a critical asset for a 4th line centerman - perhaps Derek Ryan can help him out for the time being.

The Edmonton Oilers called up the 26 year old Philp for a stretch of 11 games. He was scratched for 2 games, and only played more than 10:00 of ice time twice. By his usage, it's apparent Coach Knoblauch doesn't trust Philp completely in tight scenarios.

Philp was essentially filling the role of the 13th forward, and the Oilers will get another one back when Evander Kane returns, but Edmonton may now pursue another forward in trade if Philp isn't up for the playoffs.

The Oilers had been heavily linked to Brandon Saad, and previously were reported to be interesting in a tough, versatile forward addition.

If they don't believe that option is Philp, a trade for a veteran 4th line forward seems to be the most likely path forward.