If you're small, you need to make up for it with exceptional strength or speed. Having an accurate shot and puck handling skills aren't enough if you don't have the jam to get pucks and win puck battles. When you have a short reach, you need to accelerate faster and bully your way through bigger players who are also equally as fast and shifty.
This is why guys like St. Louis, Fleury, Verbeek, and Ronning were able to have success in the NHL as smaller players. Current small players having success like Caufield, Debrincat, Atkinson, and Zuccarello are roughly the same height as Phillips, but have 30-40 pounds on him.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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