Edmonton Oilers loan defenceman Phil Kemp to AHL Condors

The 24-year-old defenceman made his National Hockey League debut on January 13 against the Montréal Canadiens as the Oilers went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen. Unfortunately, Kemp only played just over two minutes and didn’t make an impact on the score sheet in any way.

Ryan Holt, who works with the Bakersfield Condors, made note that the team would have to sit one of their veterans as they’d be dressing too many and surpassing the Veteran Rule. This rule allows a maximum of five players with a combined 260 games between the AHL, NHL or the big leagues in Europe to suit up for an AHL team.

Our own Zach Laing hypothesized that the Oilers could send down Kemp to play in games, while calling up Ben Gleason to fill in as the seventh defenceman for the team.

In 2016, the Oilers selected Vincent Desharnais in the seventh round, and he’s carved out a nice role for himself. Kemp, who was selected in the seventh round of the 2017 draft, looks to be doing the same. This season with Bakersfield, he has no goals and five points in 26 games, but broke out during the 2022-23 season with six goals and 21 points in 71 games.

While Kemp may still be a season or two away from getting the opportunity Desharnais has, it’s a great sign that the Oilers have taken note of the 24-year-old.