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After using the same twelve forwards for the first ten games of the season, Edmonton Oilers’ fortunes took a serious turn for the worse when superstar Connor McDavid fell awkwardly into the boards on the very first shift of the Oilers game at Columbus on Monday night and departed the scene before the game was a minute old. In his absence, the Oilers collapsed to a 6-1 shellacking at the hands of the Blue Jackets.
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McDavid flew with the team to Nashville before chartering home to Edmonton, meaning he is certain to miss Thursday night’s game in the Music City and very likely more once the medical prognosis becomes clear. No word on that front just yet.
Today, though, the club has taken preliminary steps by recalling two forwards from their AHL affiliate, Bakersfield Condors:
Most objective observers would agree that C Noah Philp and LW Drake Caggiula were the two forwards who came closest to making the squad out of camp without actually doing so. Both were impressive throughout the preseason.
Philp, 26, was sent out to garner some extra reps after missing the entire 2023-24 season, with the fact he is exempt from waivers playing a role in that decision. The 6’3, 200-lb. right-shot centre has had a solid start to the AHL regular season with 2-1-3, +2 through 6 games. He plays a strong two-way game who checks boxes in the faceoff and penalty killing columns.
Caggiula, 30, is a veteran of 282 NHL games, the first 156 of those in 2½ seasons with Edmonton where he signed as a college free agent in the summer of 2016. Midway through the 2018-19 season he was traded from the Oilers to Chicago in exchange for Brandon Manning in one of Peter Chiarelli’s most mystifying deals. A smallish forward at 5’11, 183 lbs., he’s a feisty, energetic winger with a modicum of offence. Currently, he leads the Condors in scoring with 2-3-5, +2 in 5 appearances (he missed one game due to the AHL’s limits on veteran players).
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