Noah Philp heads to HV71 after strong AHL playoff run
Noah Philp left the Chicago Wolves after a 17-point AHL season and a clutch playoff run, landing a 1+1-year deal with HV71 in Sweden.
Noah Philp turned a strong Calder Cup run into a move overseas, signing with HV71 in Sweden’s top league after helping the Chicago Wolves reach the 2026 Calder Cup Finals.
HV71 confirmed the deal on June 25, 2026, and said the contract runs 1+1 years. Interim general manager Johan Hult called Philp a powerful center who will matter to the club, while Philp said he was excited to come to Sweden and believed the Swedish Hockey League suits him well.
The timing makes sense on paper. Philp was an unrestricted free agent after his one-year, $775,000 contract expired at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he left on the heels of the best run of his AHL season. In 29 regular-season games for Chicago, the 27-year-old from Canmore, Alberta, produced 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points, then carried that form into the playoffs.
He was at his most dangerous when the games tightened. Philp scored twice in Chicago’s 3-2 series-clinching win over Grand Rapids on May 21, then added a goal and an assist in a 4-3 Game 7 win over Colorado in the Western Conference Finals on June 8. Chicago’s postseason pushed all the way to the Calder Cup Finals against the Toronto Marlies, and Philp’s ability to chip in offensively while staying on the right side of the puck was part of why he drew attention well beyond the AHL.
That is the real story here for Carolina’s affiliate: this is not a fringe depth move. Philp was a right-shot, 6-foot-3, 201-pound center with NHL experience for both the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes, and he had become the kind of trusted middle-six playoff piece teams lean on in May and June. Taking that player out of the Wolves’ lineup leaves a real hole in a role that demands faceoff work, defensive details and enough offense to punish mistakes.
For HV71, the appeal was obvious. Swedish coverage framed Philp as a defensively reliable, puck-strong two-way center, and one report suggested he could fit alongside Jonathan Ang. For Chicago, the message is equally clear: a player who raised his value in the spring has now cashed that momentum in for a full-time shot in Sweden.
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