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Originally Posted by TheScorpion
Saying Phillips looked terrible in the pre-season doesn't hold much weight, IMO. It's a 17-minute sample going head-to-head against 200 AHL games.
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Yet it is this evaluation process is the one that determines who makes the team. It is the same across every team in every professional league in sports.
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It's also not backed up by the numbers, which were fine across the board. He actually ranked fifth among the 43 players who tried out for the team (one spot ahead of Kadri) with 1.28 individual expected goals per 60 at 5v5. The numbers suggest he was constantly creating chances and taking shots.
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This is why fancy stats are bull####. Phillips was glaringly bad on the defensive side of the puck and stood out as being weak in his positioning and ability to pressure the puck. This is why he was cut early and didn't make it to the end of camp.
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Saying he looked terrible in camp, to me, is an example of seeing what you want to see.
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To you. When you get fixated on players, whether it be David Jones or Matthew Phillips, you only see one side of the player. You only see what you want to see, which is vastly different than what most other people see.
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The ongoing AHL season should inform your decisions way before a months-old training camp.
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The team is watching the on-going AHL season and doing continual evaluation. They understand what a player needs to do and needs to work on to have an impact in the NHL. It is different for every player and the role the player is likely to be cast in. This is the thing that you seem to struggle with. You think that because a guy is putting up a lot of points it is the ultimate path to the NHL. It isn't. When a player is sent to the minors they are told the things they have to work on and what the team wants to see from them. The team doesn't just blindly cut them and send them away to toil away without direction. The team gives them guidance and then watches them to see how they are developing and progressing toward the objectives laid out. A player you think has no chance, because he doesn't fill the net, may be right on target to fill a role the team feels he would be successful in. And yes, the Calgary Flames and Darryl Sutter have specific roles they cast players into and expect them to perform those roles. Every player in the AHL is aware of this and is working to get an opportunity to fit into one of those roles. The problem for Phillips is there may not be a role on the team where he is a fit.