Unheralded forward making presence felt in Oilers' lineup
Photo credit: Rick Osentoski - Imagn Images
With his noticeably strong play of late, undrafted forward Noah Philp is making a case for an immediate contract extension.
It's been a busy offseason for Oilers' GM Stan Bowman, securing contracts for the team's big pending-free agents, and now preparing to negotiate for some of the team's other priority contract extensions.
Oilers' list of pending-free agents must be prioritized
Players like Skinner, Pickard and Kulak are likely the next pending- free agents that Stan Bowman will tackle at some point this season.
And the list of pending-UFAs continues, with Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Troy Stecher, Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, and David Tomasek all needing to be looked at before July 1, 2026.
Stan Bowman's work is clearly cut-out for him. Of course, how he approaches the above listed players depends largely on the team's salary cap and how well they perform this year.
However, one name in particular that may not have been a priority signing in the preseason, has become one as a result of his strong play in the Oilers' first eight games - Noah Philip.
In his five games played, Philip has recorded 2G and 1A. Yet, it's not his offense that makes the 27-year old undrafted forward so valuable. He's shown to be a versatile player with a responsible defensive game, helped in large part by his improvement in the face-off circle.
And there's not a chance the Oilers will risk losing Noah on waivers, which some believed could have been the case because of a logjam at the forward position However, he has clearly earned his spot in the lineup.
Noah Philip is signed to a one-year contract at cap hit of $775K, making it one of the teams best, if not the best-value contract.
Stan Bowman would do well to lock-up Philip for at least another 3 years now, as the forward has become one of the team's future building blocks.
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