When Daniel Nugent-Bowman from The Athletic released his Q&A with Ken Holland that covered a range of topics, the item that surprised most Oilers fans came when the GM revealed prospect Noah Philp’s decision to retire from hockey. Later on in the day, Philp released a brief statement regarding his future.

The 24-year-old native of Canmore, Alberta, played four seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Kootenay Ice and Seattle Thunderbirds before joining the U of A Golden Bears where he scored 38 points in 36 games with the university. After a strong showing with the Golden Bears, Philp was signed to a one-year contract in April of 2022 to play in the AHL where he put up some impressive totals for an undrafted freshman. In his first full season with the Bakersfield Condors, Philp scored 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points in 70 games during the 2022-23 campaign.

As noted in his statement, Philp is choosing to focus on life outside of hockey and while he didn’t expand too much on what that means, I think I can safely speak for all of us and say that we wish him the best on whatever comes next.