[Rumour] Flames offer Phillips two-year deal. Will test market, "door isn't closed" on return

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

That would be a pretty useless line even with Bedard.

Taylor Hall?

pfft we have Phillips

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by dino7c

who said no interest?

Someone was saying multiple years and millions per

that isn't happening

Not going to name any names, but they know who they are! My guess is another team will sign him, thus showing their interest.

[Matty81]

Someone will give him that better deal who has cap room and money to burn, he's a free/low cost asset. Seems like a great AHL player and kid but wouldn't be surprised to see him on waivers in the fall

[taxbuster]

Can see Conny doing this as he was a big booster of Phillips back when he was doing that stuff and not GMing. Possibly done as a "thanks kid, I, at least, have faith in you...too bad about your time with Sutter" thing. But he ain't big and I don't know if there will be any interest by other teams (didn't he go through waivers back when?). But maybe someone will pick him up. Hard to know. Doesn't seem like it though after what we saw in the draft. Size appears to matter.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Some have insisted that Phillips wouldn't garner any interest around the league. We're about to find out!

He'll get interest, but no one is going to give him a big-money contract with a guaranteed NHL spot.

I suspect he'll be getting roughly the same offer from every team, so he needs to decide which one gives him the best shot to get a real opportunity.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by dino7c

more skilled for sure
better at a fourth line role? no

I think Rooney was pretty important to the Wranglers actually

Man, he was burned in his own zone over and over all year long. For a defensive forward, he was a +3 on a team with a +82 goal differential.

In terms of depth forwards, he was less effective in pretty much all areas than Sutter, McLain, Klapka, Bishop ... almost everyone. No idea what their pro scouts were thinking.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Man, he was burned in his own zone over and over all year long. For a defensive forward, he was a +3 on a team with a +82 goal differential.

In terms of depth forwards, he was less effective in pretty much all areas than Sutter, McLain, Klapka, Bishop ... almost everyone.

I only watched the playoffs, his line seemed to do their job

3 points for Rooney and 7 for Phillips

1 more playoff goal for Phillips

I don't think either is a full time NHLer

[bigrangy]

Rooney was equally bad as a Wrangler and a Flame. I watched enough Wranglers hockey this year to know that.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Some have insisted that Phillips wouldn't garner any interest around the league. We're about to find out!

He would garner a lot of interest if he can be sent to the AHL on a two way deal.

The test is whether someone is guaranteeing him a chance to play in the NHL.

The fact that he's cleared waivers suggests teams aren't lining up to do that.

[PepsiFree]

Phillips is a weird player for me as while his production in the AHL is obviously impressive, I was never impressed watching him. He never looked like a guy who was dominating with hockey sense, creativity, or agility (some of the stuff you see from smaller guys that give them success in the NHL). He never stood out to me, and in his incredibly short NHL stint, he looked like the exact same player he was in the AHL.

It’s hard for me to imagine his success translating, but I didn’t watch anything close to every Wranglers game. It was just odd watching him put up multiple goals and still leave a lot to be desired.

The only AHL players that really impressed me/looked like NHL players at times were Wolf and Poirier. Though I could see Kuznetsov and Solovyov making the NHL at some point. Zary was probably the most disappointing.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I think he's gone from Calgary unless they give him a much better deal.

He was pretty sour after last year.

Don't blame him. Might as well go somewhere else that might give you a better chance.

[dino7c]

this is a 1 way deal rumored?

[midniteowl]

I really want to see what Savard can do with him.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Phillips is a weird player for me as while his production in the AHL is obviously impressive, I was never impressed watching him. He never looked like a guy who was dominating with hockey sense, creativity, or agility (some of the stuff you see from smaller guys that give them success in the NHL). He never stood out to me, and in his incredibly short NHL stint, he looked like the exact same player he was in the AHL.

It’s hard for me to imagine his success translating, but I didn’t watch anything close to every Wranglers game. It was just odd watching him put up multiple goals and still leave a lot to be desired.

The only AHL players that really impressed me/looked like NHL players at times were Wolf and Poirier. Though I could see Kuznetsov and Solovyov making the NHL at some point. Zary was probably the most disappointing.

The AHL is a weird league and hard to look "impressive" in, from a technical standpoint, because it's so much more disjointed. My theory is that's why Walker Duehr actually looked way better in the NHL than he did in the AHL (where he's never impressed me at all), because it's way easier to thrive playing in a north-south system away from the frenzied, mistake-filled nature of the AHL.

I think it can also massively affect finesse guys, too, though. Zary is one whose game really comes and goes in the A. Pelletier thrives because he's both quick and chippy, and he's really good at capitalizing off mistakes. Phillips is like that, too — at 5v5, he scores a lot of rebound goals, tap-ins, etc. It's river hockey. So unless you really take over games by yourself — and almost nobody does at that level — it's hard to "look" impressive on the surface.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Toonage

I've always thought of him as a match with Tampa. Zero idea if they can fit him in, no idea really why I think he'd fit in there. Just a hunch I guess.

I mean, it worked out pretty good for Tampa with another little guy we had that a Sutter didn't like.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dino7c

this is a 1 way deal rumored?

I assume if it was one way, he'd have jumped at it before it vanished.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I mean, it worked out pretty good for Tampa with another little guy we had that a Sutter didn't like.

this is everyone's fear but its not happening

worst case Phillips is a 30-40 point guy for another team...similar to Yamamoto who was given away for free yesterday


all this being said I am fine if he signs with the Flames for 1M or whatever, happy to cheer for him

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

The AHL is a weird league and hard to look "impressive" in, from a technical standpoint, because it's so much more disjointed. My theory is that's why Walker Duehr actually looked way better in the NHL than he did in the AHL (where he's never impressed me at all), because it's way easier to thrive playing in a north-south system away from the frenzied, mistake-filled nature of the AHL.

I think it can also massively affect finesse guys, too, though. Zary is one whose game really comes and goes in the A. Pelletier thrives because he's both quick and chippy, and he's really good at capitalizing off mistakes. Phillips is like that, too — at 5v5, he scores a lot of rebound goals, tap-ins, etc. It's river hockey. So unless you really take over games by yourself — and almost nobody does at that level — it's hard to "look" impressive on the surface.

That makes a lot of sense. I don’t fancy myself any kind of NHL talent scout so I pretty much trust whatever smarter people say on the players, it’s just a weird league to watch and then try to match how the players play with how they’re talked about in terms of NHL potential. It’s easy to see why so many guys dominate in the AHL and do nothing in the NHL, or why NHLers go down and are just awful (agree that Rooney looked below average to terrible in every game I watched, I thought he looked better in the NHL).

Fun to watch and I’m going to try to see more this year, but tough to watch with any kind of “eye” on who is ready for the NHL.

[Jacks]

Wish we got a chance to see him given a real chance. Get's called up for 2 games, less than 10min TOI, played mainly on defensive lines.

He's obviously not as good as Gaudreau but in his first full season Johnny went scoreless in his first 5 games getting as much as 16min TOI. I can't find the line combos for those games but I think he was on the top line right off the bat with Mony and Hudler?

Again, he's no Gaudreau be he was never really given a chance.

[username]

Meh. He'll be in Europe in three years anyway.