Here are some thoughts on the Edmonton Oilers’ decision earlier this week in sending down Noah Philp. On Wednesday night, Derek Ryan was the defacto 4C with Corey Perry and Mattias Janmark. How did he do against a strong Vegas Golden Knights team compared to Philp’s three games in the NHL? Let’s take a quick look here. (All stats are from MoneyPuck and NaturalStatTrick)
How did Philp play
Philp was recalled, along with Drake Caggiula, when Connor McDavid went down with ankle injury. He made his NHL debut on October 31 against the Nashville Predators. Philp was the third best forward on the ice for the Oilers, out for a xGF% of 68.25% and collected his first NHL assist on a goal by Perry. The Caggiula-Philp-Perry line was incredible, out there for an incredible 79.5 xG%. A dominant game.
The line did however struggle against the Calgary Flames, but so did the entire squad. The line had a sub 20 xGF% and Philp himself had a ~25 xGF%. However, Coach Kris Knoblauch did deploy Philp’s line the most out of any other line in the defensive zone. Philp’s line started six of their shifts in the defensive zone, which indicates that he had trust in the young rookie to take the important draws.
The New Jersey Devils game is a bit weird. Philp played the least out of any player, only out there for 9:55, and at first glance a 25 xGF% is pretty bad. It is important to note that Philp out there for only 0.04 xGA. This means literally nothing whatsoever happened when he was on the ice, which is kind of what you like to see from your 4C. If he isn’t scoring, just make sure you aren’t getting hammered in your own zone, and that reflects that.
How did Ryan play
Ryan played fairly poorly against the Golden Knights. Ryan played out on the penalty kill which saw him out for four shots against, including a team high 0.35 xGA. He didn’t do anything to contain the Knights power play. Ryan, individually, was out there for an xGF% of <35%!!! That’s horrible. His line didn’t fare better as they were clipping at a rate of 42 xGF%. That line drowned against the heavy Knights.
In my opinion, the Oilers needed to keep Philp up. He’s younger and faster than Ryan, and would definitely have more offence to give at this point in his career. Not only that, Ryan makes more than Philp, so sending down Ryan and calling up Philp would allow Edmonton to accrue even more cap space for the deadline. If the Oilers struggles continue, this should easily be the first move they make if they want to turn around their season. There is a reason why Philp was highly regarded coming out of the University of Alberta Golden Bears system and why he almost made the team after taking a year off. He’s ready for the big leagues and the Oilers need to realize that.
