[TheScorpion]

Size matters. It just does. But I think in some instances, a lack of size is automatically construed as a negative, whereas players like Phillips use their low centre of gravity to their advantage in a lot of ways — but they also get knocked off the puck more easily.

Saying "he doesn't have the size to be effective" is a take that lacks nuance. Players of extremely small stature can be limited, but so can players with extremely large stature — there isn't any one hard-and-fast rule. I would say in Phillips' case, he uses the agility afforded to him by his frame to his advantage and isn't often manhandled anymore, having been taken advantage of more liberally in the past. Nowadays, that isn't as much of a factor, and that's largely come as a result of him having put on 25-30 pounds since he was drafted.

The Flames almost certainly look at these situations with more nuance — they don't just look at a guy and write him off because they're already at their quota of small players. If he can push play and help the team, he should get a shot.