Noah Philp’s Journey As He Retires From Professional Hockey

Noah Philp was standing in the Edmonton Oilers’ dressing room during his first season in the NHL when he was asked what he had taken from his time with the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

“Just to enjoy hockey,” Philp said.

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“You’re taking classes, you’re doing everything together. Just really finding the love for hockey.”

That was less than two years ago, when Philp had returned from a season away from the sport and finally reached the NHL after taking one of the more unusual routes to get there.

Now, at 27, he’s walking away from hockey again.

Philp has retired despite having signed with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League earlier this summer, ending a professional career that included 32 NHL games between the Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes. He scored two goals and five points in those games after making his NHL debut with Edmonton in October of 2024.

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It was a long way from Clare Drake Arena.

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Philp arrived at the University of Alberta after going undrafted out of the WHL and played 36 games for the Golden Bears over parts of three seasons.

He did not win a national championship there, and he didn’t even stick around long enough to win the Canada West title his teammates captured months after he left for professional hockey.

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But when Philp reflected on his time with the Bears after reaching Edmonton, those things didn’t appear to matter much.

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“It was so much fun being there, and all the guys are great,” he said. “You get to really band together, because you know nobody’s leaving, everyone’s there together.”

That environment helped Philp turn himself from an undrafted junior player into someone the Oilers were willing to sign.

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Philp played his first professional season with the Bakersfield Condors in 2022-23 before announcing he was stepping away from hockey that summer because he decided there were things outside of hockey that needed his attention and took the 2023-24 season away from the sport.

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He came back the following year.

Philp made his NHL debut with Edmonton, played 15 games during the 2024-25 season and recorded two assists while spending most of the year in Bakersfield.

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When I spoke with him during that season, he wasn’t concerned about where things were going, when he would get there, or if he would ever become a full-time NHL player.

“I had no expectations,” he said of getting his opportunity with the Oilers. “I just put in a good summer, I felt ready to play, and I was just trying to come in and play as hard as I could. Basically put my best foot forward every day. I think that when that’s all I focus on, that usually [gets] results.”

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Philp eventually found himself sharing a dressing room with Corey Perry, watching a player with more than 1,300 NHL games to his name from a few stalls away.

“[Perry’s] knowledge of the game is incredible, just to watch how he does things out there,” Philp said. “I’ve tried to pick his brain and learn from him.

“And I commend him. He’s seen so many players, and then another young guy comes in. For him to treat me the way that he does, it means a lot to me.”

He was 26 during his rookie season, had already spent years in junior and university hockey, played professionally, stepped away from the game and then worked his way back into it.

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“I’m kind of an old young guy but it’s good,” he said. “It’s sort of the same process. Maybe for myself, it’s a little different, maybe a little bit more mature, in terms of just seeing how the game flows and [the] risk-reward. I think that’s something that is beneficial about being older, you’ve just seen a little bit more.”

He played another 17 NHL games in 2025-26, scored the first two goals of his NHL career and added an assist before his time in Edmonton ended. He finished his NHL career with two goals and three assists in 32 games.

That’s not the career Philp would have imagined when he was playing for the Golden Bears and he probably couldn’t have imagined much of what followed.

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Philp was undrafted, came through U Sports, signed with his hometown NHL organization, left professional hockey entirely, returned a year later and still managed to reach the league.

And somewhere in there, the resources he found at Alberta helped make it possible.

“They had lots of resources and lots of extra things you could take advantage of,” Philp said. “And a lot of the time it’s up to the player, and I felt like I did a decent job of finding what I could to try to improve. I think it definitely helped me develop.”

But Philp also found the for hockey again there. He found enough of it again after leaving the sport the first time to come back and make the NHL.

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And after getting there, Philp has decided 32 games were enough.

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