It’s crunch time for Noah Philp and the Edmonton Oilers.

This fall, a decision has to be made about him as the upcoming 2025-26 season will be the first he becomes waiver eligible. We always hear the same old story of a slew of players that hit waivers every year who are the “hot player” that someone is going to claim, and it’s easy to see why that could be Philp.

He’s still just 26-years-old, and is a big body, right-shot centre. Those are players often coveted by teams and Philp’s trajectory — despite how unusual it has been — puts him on track to be an NHL’er.

After stepping away from hockey in 2023-24, he returned to the pro ranks and didn’t look out of place what so ever. He spent most of his time in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors, drawing in for 55 games scoring 19 goals and 35 points. Those numbers were close to career highs from his 2022-23 season when he played 70 games, highlighting an increase in his goals, assists and points per game rates.

But Philp also got his first taste of the National Hockey League, appearing in 15 games for the Oilers and looking like he belonged. While he scored just two assists — one of which was in his first NHL game — he also showed an ability to be a strong play driver in a depth role. His underlying metrics were all strong, especially defensively, where his rates were among the best of any Oilers player this season, small sample size notwithstanding.

He drove offence at a seven percent rate below league average, defence at a two percent rate above league average and penalty kill work at a one percent rate above league average, according to Hockey Viz, with his overall contributions toeing the line between a low-end third-liner and a high-end fourth-liner.

That’s the exact role that Philp will look to play for the Edmonton Oilers this season. There will undoubtedly be a number of players competing for a fourth-line role on the team this year alongside Philp, including the likes of Mattias Janmark, Curtis Lazar, David Tomasek, and Kasperi Kapanen, among others.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.