Oilers sign prospect Phil Kemp to two-year, two-way contract extension

The Edmonton Oilers and defenceman Phil Kemp have agreed to a two-year, two-way contract extension, the team announced on Tuesday.

Kemp was selected by the Oilers in the seventh round of the 2017 draft from the United States National Development Program. The Greenwich, Connecticut native spent three seasons playing NCAA hockey in the Ivy League with Yale and then inked a standard three-year, entry-level contract with Edmonton in November of 2020.

After solid rookie and sophomore showings at the AHL level, Kemp took on a larger role in his third season with the Bakersfield Condors in 2022-23. Kemp was given many of the minutes that were previously handled by Vincent Desharnais when he was called up to the big-league club and the 24-year-old scored six goals and 21 points over 71 games with 51 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating.

All told, the 6’3″, 200-pound right-handed defender has played in 138 AHL regular season games and has scored nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points along with 76 penalty minutes and a plus-20 rating.

Kemp likely won’t figure into Edmonton’s plans to start the 2023-24 campaign but he’ll be among the options for a call-up during the season when the team needs reinforcements on the blueline. He doesn’t provide much offensively but Kemp figures to be a safe shutdown option alongside an offensive defenceman. That was the role he played with the U.S. Development Team when he was paired with Quinn Hughes, who’s now with the Vancouver Canucks.

With Kemp signed, the Oilers have six restricted free agents who are in need of new deals. Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod, and Klim Kostin are all going to earn raises on their next contracts while AHL prospects Raphael Lavoie, Noah Philp, and Olivier Rodrigue have all reached the end of their entry-level pacts.