Jan. 29th: Carolina indirectly confirmed that Philp cleared waivers, announcing that they’ve reassigned him and defenseman Joel Nystrom to AHL Chicago. Nystrom’s demotion was expected, given that the team shared that Shayne Gostisbehere would return tonight after a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury. Nystrom scored one goal in four games during his recall, averaging 11:25 of ice time per game.
Jan. 28th: The Hurricanes have placed center Noah Philp on waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He had been on injured reserve with a concussion; now that he’s healthy, he won’t be back with Carolina. He’ll either be headed to AHL Chicago or another NHL club if he’s claimed off the wire.
Philp, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Oilers just last month. If Edmonton submits a claim for him and is the only team to do so, they could send him directly to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield without having to waive him again.
The Alberta-born pivot sustained the concussion in just his second appearance for Carolina on Jan. 6 against the Stars. He logged just 18:26 of total ice time across the pair of contests in a Canes sweater, notching two shots on goal and six hits while going 11-for-21 (52.4%) on draws. Including a 15-game run with the Oilers earlier in the year, he has a 2-1–3 scoring line with a -7 rating in 17 showings in his second NHL season.
There are red flags in Philp’s possession game. Even accounting for his deployment as a shutdown center at even strength, his 41.6 CF% at 5-on-5 is ghastly for a center who played in two extremely favorable possession environments in Carolina and Edmonton. He had a 54.8 CF% in 15 games with the Oilers last year, but in far more sheltered usage. There’s been some intrigue in the 6’3″, 200-lb frame he brings to the table, but it will be hard to continue justifying deploying him in a grinder role at the bottom of the lineup if he continues to be a significant drag on his team’s ability to control play.
Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Alberta in 2022, Philp does have a nice 38-34–72 scoring line with a +13 rating in 130 career AHL games, all with Bakersfield. That includes a 35-point effort in only 55 games last year after he took a leave of absence for the entire 2023-24 campaign. The Oilers are likely hoping they’re the lone interested party in retaining him, either for familiar fourth-line depth or an AHL needle-mover.