The Penguins have claimed diminutive forward Matthew Phillips on waivers from the Capitals.
I profess to knowing nothing about him other than what I can glean from HockeyDB. A former sixth-round pick of his hometown Flames, he’s 25 years old, a right-handed shot and measures in at 5’8” 160 (of course…couldn’t be 6’3” 215).
Sarcasm aside, Phillips has actually put up pretty decent numbers in the AHL, including 36 goals with the Calgary Wranglers last season and 31 goals with the Stockton Heat in 2021-22. However, he’s yet to establish himself at the big-league level (a goal and five points in 27 games with the Caps this season to go with a whopping seven hits).
Brandon Tanev he ain’t.
My admittedly sour take? He’ll be the latest in a long-line of midget minor-league scorers (see McGeough, Jim) to pass through the black-and-gold turnstiles.
Rick
Here we go again. Part of the Pen’s problem, and it definitely has an impact on our
overall ability to score and defend are the struggles we have winning one on one
battles on the boards and in front of our net. i didn’t see our game against the Florida
Panthers but I did catch the highlights. In one of those clips it was pointed out that
we had a 3 to 2 man advantage in the corner fighting for the puck but still allowed the
Panthers to emerge with the biscuit. This happens way to often.
Rick – PS. A couple of my buddies claim Phillips is nowhere near the listed 160lbs. You
can’t have a team of POJ, Phillips, Pettersson….etc…etc. and expect to have any chance
of winning in the playoffs – that’s if we pull off a miracle and somehow get in.
Hear me out…Jagr is in town. Sign him for the rest of the season. Best case scenario you add size and a power play specialist and maybe squeak into a playoff spot. Worst case, we get a 2 month long farewell tour before it’s time to tear it down. What do we have to lose?
Hey all,
My apologies to Matthew Phillips if I seemed overly cryptic or harsh in my writeup. He hasn’t even played a game for us and I’m sniping at him…or at least the act of claiming him.
From what fellow PPer Caleb Di’Natale has told me, Phillips can skate and shoot and possesses some skill. Apparently he’ll battle and compete, too, although his size obviously mitigates against him.
It’s just that, as I mentioned in my article, the Pens have gone down this road literally hundreds of times with small guys and it’s almost never (ever) worked out favorably. Conor Sheary being a rare exception.
Back in the ’80s while the Flyers were drafting guys like Tim Kerr, Rick Tocchet and Scott Mellanby the Pens were picking midgets like Grant Sasser, Lee Giffin and Steve Gotaas.
Small wonder (no pun intended) we were winless in Philly all those years.
Rick