The Athletic's Allan Mitchell published an excellent article on Sunday (subscription required), in respect of Phil Kemp. As far as Mitchell is concerned, the blue line prospect has reached a crossroads in his career with the Edmonton Oilers.
In fairness, it's hard to argue with this prognosis when you consider Kemp has been connected to the organisation since being selected in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. At the time of writing he has just one single NHL appearance to his name, coming in January of this year versus the Montreal Canadiens, with him only seeing 2:03 of ice time.
This leads to wondering why Kemp has not been given more opportunities with the Oilers, and we appreciate that there are those who believe it's simply because he's not good enough for the NHL level. In reality though, there have been factors outside his control which have contributed to his lack of chances in Edmonton.
Musical chairs at head coach and general manager
The Oilers have had five head coaches in the time period since they drafted the 25-year-old in 2017. This includes Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock, Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft and now Kris Knoblauch.
As much as any prospect in the Oilers organisation has been met with the same challenge during this time period, Kemp in particular has suffered as a result of the constant changing of head coaches. It's tough to make an impression with someone, if they're only passing through Edmonton for a brief period of time.
In a similar vein, the Oilers have also had five general managers since selecting Kemp. This includes Peter Chiarelli, Keith Gretzky (interim), Ken Holland, Jeff Jackson (interim) and presently Stan Bowman.
Kemp is not without talent
Clearly the Oilers must see something in Kemp though, despite the number of coaching and general manager changes during his time with the organisation. He's in his fifth season of AHL action with the Bakersfield Condors and in the second year of his second professional contract (which is a two-way deal).
The Greenwich, Connecticut native has performed well on a consistent basis during his time in Bakersfield, helping the Condors qualify for the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. At the time of writing, he has produced 51 points (14 and 37 assists), 156 penalty minutes and a +35 rating in 227 regular season games.
We appreciate that some critics out there, will focus on Kemp's lack of offensive productivity (even though he does possess a vicious shot). However, as Mitchell puts it, the only thing really stopping him from being an NHL regular is a lack of foot speed.
Even allowing for this foible though, we would contend that Kemp still deserves more opportunities to show what he can do at the NHL level. He has plenty of other enticing attributes, including the size, physicality, toughness, doggedness and work-ethic you want in a defenceman, while also being able to play on the penalty kill.
The reality is though, that this opportunity for more NHL games is not likely to come in Edmonton, with too many preferable options available to Knoblauch. In this respect maybe it's a blessing that, as per PuckPedia, the right-shot D-man is currently set to become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent following the conclusion of this season.
Kemp projects as a third pairing defenceman at the NHL level, but he's going to have to more than likely make this become a reality somewhere other than with the Oilers. As Mitchell concludes in his article, it's time for him to go.