Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
No, I'm saying that because he's been in the Flames system for seven years and attended six training camps he's shown he's not capable of playing in the NHL. He's had a number of opportunities to impress and has not done so. That's on the player.
What about the other coaches he didn't impress?
There is no player as small as Phillips. Small players may be finding their way onto more teams according to you, but not as many as you seem to think. League average for a forward has INCREASED to 72.91" and 197.67 pounds. There are only six players on rosters listed at 5'8" or shorter, the smallest being Cole Caufield at 5'7". Lightest players in the league are Jacob Pelletier (160 pounds) and Kailer Yamamoto (153 pounds). Save the AHL roster weight games being played. Phillips is demonstrably smaller than Pelletier and Pelletier is one of the smallest players in the league. Phillips would be the smallest by both measures.
What is most important is where would Phillips fit in the roster? The Flames are already small and will be getting smaller this year. They'll be adding Pelletier and Coronato to the roster to play along side small players in Mangiapane and Dube. They'll also be losing size with the departures of Lucic, Ritchie, and Lewis. While the loss of these guys is a great thing from a skill perspective the loss of their size is going to hurt the team. You can only have so many small players and the Flames are exceeding their limit up front.
Phillips is a Group VI free agent at the end of the month. He's had more than enough opportunities to catch on and has failed. Let him go and focus on making the team better with guys that look like they can play in the NHL. I don't see any upside bringing him back. If Conroy is entertaining this it is more of a statement how thin our system really is.
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The thing is he really didn't have any opportunities to catch on. He played 2 games last year, with 9 minutes of ice time. Beyond that, he played 1 game in 2020/21, where he actually looked decent and had a couple of shots on net.
I think we have vastly different definitions of when a player has been given "more than enough" chances in the NHL.
The fact that Conroy is even talking to him shows that there's a chance he might have what it takes.