I do not understand why some of you get so aggressive when we try and defend Phillips. He showed improvement every year, he is a local kid who had to go against the odds at every level, he plays the exact game that the Flames are missing from their lineup - it is not hard to see why some posters want to see him given a fair chance.
There is no reason why he should not have been put into some games last week, like the second back-to-back one, it just makes no sense. He was given ~12 minutes of ice time where he hardly could get into the game due to shift inconsistency from all the penalties and he showed that he is not a liability defensively.
We all know he has the offensive skills but what we do not know is do they translate to the NHL, so why is it so hard to try and find out? What would be the worst thing is you give Phillips a couple of games with actual ice time? He coughs up the puck an they score, he does not get a point and he is useless, whatever then send him down.
The issue is having a player that could potentially solve some of your issues (####ty pp, ####ty zone entries, ####ty off the rush play) but refusing to implement a solution.
Nobody knows if Phillips can solve those issues if we are being truly honest, and if Sutter "knows" Phillips won't be an NHL players, that is a huge issue, because he really does not know
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