Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent
at the end of the day, Phillips wasn't given enough runway here not to come up short.
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Not enough runway? How much runway do you give a player? Phillips is D+7. That's enough runway to land a jumbo jet. How many players are still around their original team to be D+7 without playing in the NHL??? Look at Phillips' draft class and who is left from the nine players the Flames selected? Dillon Dube and Matthew Phillips is it, and Dube is in his 4th NHL season as a Flame, 5th if you count his first 25 game callup. Parsons, Lindstrom, Mattason, and Falkovsky have all been kicked to the curb. From the 2017 draft class, Valimaki has seen his runway turn into opportunities elsewhere. Phillips has been granted three contracts with the team. They've given him a lot of pavement, he just hasn't shown them enough to believe he has NHL talent to compensate for his lack of size.
I'm sure his agent knows the skinny. The trick will be to try and convince another team that he does have NHL potential and earn a one-way contract. Otherwise, he's going to have to settle for AHL money, which sucks for the abuse you take. I'm not certain anyone else is going to bite on Phillips as an NHL player and you have to wonder what premium they would pay him to play for their AHL squad? Europe has greater earning potential with less abuse to your body. Phillips could carve out an amazing career in a Euro league, be a star, and make lots of money. If his agent were smart, that would be where to troll for a contract. He would make more money in the KHL in one year than he would in the AHL for four or five seasons. The only runway left is going to be in a different city, and if he's smart, on another continent.