Oilers preparing for bad news as they call up a prospect

The team announced this evening that the Oilers decided to recall defenceman Phil Kemp from Bakersfield.

It's standard practice when a team goes on a long road ship to carry an extra defenseman as injuries can crop up from time to time, or perhaps a defenceman is dead king with a nagging injury already at this point. Kemp, who is considered the 5th ranking defensive prospect within the organization was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 Entry Draft. He could get into a few games if Knoblauch would like to take an opportunity to rest a defenceman, or if one gets hurt.

It seems the Oilers are willing to give him a try as they had struck gold when Vincent Desharnais who also was a seventh-round pick has worked out well for the team.

During the 2022-2023 season, camp played 71 games for Bakersfield and scored six goals, had 15 assists for 21 points along with 51 penalty minutes and was a + 12.

If the Oilers decided to give him some time on the ice, I expect they would evaluate where he stands in terms of being a long-term option for the Oilers in the future.

The Oilers first game of this trip will be in Chicago when they face the depleted Chicago Blackhawks. The game will be held on January 9th and game time will be at 8:30 PM eastern