Reinforcements are on their way.
The Edmonton Oilers announced on Tuesday that they’ve recalled forwards Noah Philp and Drake Caggiula from the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League.
Connor McDavid suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. He immediately returned to Edmonton for further testing and there hasn’t been any word about the severity of the injury or if he’s going to be placed on either the regular Injured Reserve or the Long-Term Injured Reserve.
A player is eligible for the LTIR if they’re expected to miss 10 games and 24 days of the season. With Evander Kane on the LTIR following pre-season surgery, the Oilers currently have a bonus cushion of roughly $5.1 million available for them to exceed the salary cap ceiling. They’ll begin to use that pool with Philp and Caggiula on the active roster.
The Oilers signed Philp to a one-year, entry-level contract in April of 2022 after he scored 20 goals and 38 points across 36 games with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. He had a very impressive rookie season in the AHL in 2022-23, scoring 19 goals and 37 points over 70 games with Bakersfield.
Following his rookie campaign, Philp announced that he was retiring from hockey for personal reasons. The Oilers still opted to qualify him as a restricted free agent and retained his rights while he didn’t play in 2023-24. Back in March, it was reported that Philp was planning to resume his professional hockey career, and he and the Oilers agreed to a one-year, $775k deal in July.
During training camp, Philp was among the names competing for the team’s fourth-line centre position. The Oilers decided to keep the veteran Derek Ryan, though the youngster made it a difficult decision for them. Listed at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Philp brings strong skating ability and a complete, two-way game to the table. He’ll likely be used mostly in Edmonton’s bottom-six but Philp showed during the pre-season that he can score.
noah philp’s case to make the oilers opening night roster gets stronger everyday, with this beauty of a goal being an exclamation mark. pic.twitter.com/6vyvatBwxy
— zach (@zjlaing) September 29, 2024
The other forward coming up from Bakersfield is veteran winger Drake Caggiula. The Oilers originally signed Caggiula back in 2016 after he wrapped up a very successful NCAA career at the University of North Dakota. He played parts of three seasons with the club and was traded in December of 2018 to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenceman Brandon Manning.
After bouncing around with the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, and Pittsburgh Penguins, Caggiula signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Oilers in the summer of 2023. He scored 13 goals and 37 points for the Condors in 2023-24 and has five points through five games in 2024-25.
