Call up Phillips! Now!

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Just looked at his hockeydb. Is he really only 140 pounds?

This AHL page has him at 5'8 and 160 lbs.

[Naitix]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Completely untrue. Phillips has been available to every team - for free - and has not been picked up. If every other team in the league wanted Phillips the Flames would work a trade for him in a heartbeat and take whatever asset they could get. It is obvious this isn't the case. If this huge demand were out there, he would have been moved already because it appears the Flames know he's not in the plans for anything but the AHL squad.

Phillips was only available for teams to pick up around camp time, many good players go through waivers at that time. At that time in the year teams have already planned what their day 1 roster will look like to an extent, they do not plan for someone like Phillips to be available + they would be forced to have him on the NHL roster. I have zero doubt that Flames can get assets for Phillips if they were to trade him, but that asset is not significant enough for them to actually make a trade, due to him having 1 NHL game it is a complete random guess if Phillips could actually work in the NHL, so teams do not want to give up assets for that.

It makes no sense to trade Phillips from the Flames perspective, he can still be recalled this season and could contribute, risk vs reward is not worth it for the Flames in trading him.

My point is that if Phillips was already in each team's organization, majority of them would have already recalled him and give him a chance as it does not hurt them in the slightest. They can literally just send him back to the AHL... Probably at least 20-25 teams are going to show interest in singing Phillips next year and you bet they will give him more of a chance than the Flames.

Why are you so confident in saying there are no plans for Phillips at the NHL level? We are still only ~1/4 into the season, and we have not had any major forward injuries, we are a new team this year and Sutter clearly wants to see what he has at the current composition. I think they view Phillips as the guy they might give a chance to if the forwards keep struggling, there is no reason to trade him for a 4th/5th/6th round pick

[Mitch]

Cool so totally understandable why he isnt playing in the nhl

Moving on

[Flamesfan05]

Lewis, Rooney and Lucic over Phillips as long as Sutter is the coach

[TheScorpion]

I think these are also fair points to make...

At this point in the season:
- Phillips has increased his stock with his terrific play
- There are more injuries around the league, and therefore more open spots
- Players are generally claimed on waivers more often during the season compared to at the end of training camp

I would be surprised if there's zero leaguewide interest in Phillips. He certainly hasn't signed his last NHL contract. There will be multiple teams — probably a majority of the league — interested in him as a free agent this summer. At this point, given what he's done, I think him having cleared waivers doesn't have much bearing on his trajectory going forward.

Teams are always looking for an edge — for players they can acquire who will provide more value than their market rate. Phillips is a candidate to be that player for a variety of teams going forward. It's certainly not a given that he'll live up to that when he gets an NHL look, but we're talking about the AHL leading scorer who is a total unknown quantity in the NHL level. There's tangible intrigue in that, even if the Flames' brass doesn't feel that way.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Lewis, Rooney and Lucic over Phillips as long as Sutter is the coach

Phillips isn't a fourth liner. He shouldn't be one. He wouldn't play well in that role.

The Flames have to make a call on Rooney vs third and fourth line or veteran AHL guys as a comparison.

It's Phillips vs forward #9 at all times.

If there's an injury and he gets recalled then he has to be better than #9

But that floor has been rising of late with the return of Mangiapane, better play from Dube and the pop from Ruzicka.

[Jaydee]

St Louis 2.0 at this rate lol

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Lewis, Rooney and Lucic over Phillips as long as Sutter is the coach

Right, because we want Matthew Phillips taking the Looch minutes.

If Toffoli or Dube were out 4-6 weeks tomorrow, Phillips would be the call.

[TheScorpion]

Yes, I do want Phillips to take the Looch minutes. Lucic is averaging 10:50 a night. When Mangiapane broke into the NHL down the stretch in 2018–19, he averaged 10:33 — and it was perfect deployment for him.

If Phillips helps make the fourth line good, you're laughing. Stylistically, Phillips–Lewis–Ritchie isn't far off at all from Mangiapane–Ryan–Hathaway.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Yes, I do want Phillips to take the Looch minutes. Lucic is averaging 10:50 a night. When Mangiapane broke into the NHL down the stretch in 2018–19, he averaged 10:33 — and it was perfect deployment for him.

If Phillips helps make the fourth line good, you're laughing. Stylistically, Phillips–Lewis–Ritchie isn't far off at all from Mangiapane–Ryan–Hathaway.

Derek Ryan was a 30 point NHL player who also was great on draws. Lewis isn't even close to that.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Derek Ryan was a 30 point NHL player who also was great on draws. Lewis isn't even close to that.

Yeah, well, I said stylistically lol. Ryan was (and is) a terrific player. But Lewis has been surprisingly effective this year — I think it'd be worth a shot.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Yeah, well, I said stylistically lol. Ryan was (and is) a terrific player. But Lewis has been surprisingly effective this year — I think it'd be worth a shot.

Yeah maybe but I just think Lewis isn't a option in the middle he's terrible at draws. Phillips needs to start with the puck or the line with it as much as possible.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Naitix

Why are you so confident in saying there are no plans for Phillips at the NHL level?

Sutter was asked about him and had nothing positive to say about him, actually intimating they were looking at other options on the farm. Serious diss. Add in his contract status and what do you think they have in mind?

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Showed enough to stick and then worked hard to get into the lineup and did what he had to do. Ruzicka is actually a terrible example for you to use because he did everything he was asked to do and improve in the areas where he showed weaknesses. Still not a Selke nominee but can play at both ends of the ice. Sutter does not fear putting the BIG kid out there.

You're moving the goalposts. The point was made that while Phillips didn't have a great camp/preseason, neither did Ruzicka. If anything, Ruzicka's may have been worse. Instead of acknowledging this fact, you say anything you can to avoid acknowledging it.

Rosie made the team because of his size, and because of what he showed last year. Darryl wanted to give him another shot and not give up on him, despite his bad camp/preseason, because he saw potential in him last year.

And that's kind of the point with Phillips. A bad camp/preseason is not a reason to give up on a player. What he's showing in the AHL right now is exceptional, and it would be a shame if this team cast him aside without trying him out in a serious way in the NHL.

You may consider the preference to size as unfair to guys like Phillips, but that is just the game. There's a reason why guys under 250 don't get to the NFL to play the offensive line, or guys that run a 6.0 forty don't make it to camp at all. To play in certain leagues you need certain characteristics. To play in the NHL you need size, or you need to be exceptional. Exceptional players don't get cut mid-training camp.

You sound just like 2000 Craig Button.

Phillips has clearly taken a step since training camp. 16 points in his last 8 games in the AHL. No harm in bringing him in for a 2 week NHL audition.

And no I don't think the 4th line is the place to play him. It would just be setting him up for failure so that people could turn around and say "see, he's not scoring, I told ya so!"

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Sutter was asked about him and had nothing positive to say about him, actually intimating they were looking at other options on the farm. Serious diss. Add in his contract status and what do you think they have in mind?

Personally I don't take Sutter seriously in press conferences.

I think his hostility towards being asked a question sometimes results in an attack on the subject matter when really it's an attack on the person asking the question.

Phillips comes up and he takes it as "how dare you tell me who to call up!"

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Phillips isn't a fourth liner. He shouldn't be one. He wouldn't play well in that role.

The Flames have to make a call on Rooney vs third and fourth line or veteran AHL guys as a comparison.

It's Phillips vs forward #9 at all times.

If there's an injury and he gets recalled then he has to be better than #9

But that floor has been rising of late with the return of Mangiapane, better play from Dube and the pop from Ruzicka.

Only because of how they are deploying the 4th line.

As Scorp said if they would go for a line that could actually be a net positive like Mangiapane-Ryan-Hathaway were back in 18-19 then sure there would be a spot for him.

I would have no issue seeing Lucic-Lewis-Phillips as a line for example.

If you’re worried about his size wouldn’t the best place for him be opposite Lucic?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Personally I don't take Sutter seriously in press conferences.

I think his hostility towards being asked a question sometimes results in an attack on the subject matter when really it's an attack on the person asking the question.

Phillips comes up and he takes it as "how dare you tell me who to call up!"

Interesting thought. It's a possibility. It doesn't make sense to take the run he did if he liked the guy. You don't crap on your prospects that way if they are in your immediate plans. I also look at his performance in camp and his contract status and don't see a player that incentivizes the team to make an investment of NHL time. Stranger things have happened, but I see Phillips as a player on his way out of the Flames system and not one they're going to give NHL time to. There's just no long-term benefit for the club. They'd be better off bringing up a number of other players and giving them opportunity of experience and development time IMO.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

There's just no long-term benefit for the club.

How can you possibly know this for certain?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Interesting thought. It's a possibility. It doesn't make sense to take the run he did if he liked the guy. You don't crap on your prospects that way if they are in your immediate plans. I also look at his performance in camp and his contract status and don't see a player that incentivizes the team to make an investment of NHL time. Stranger things have happened, but I see Phillips as a player on his way out of the Flames system and not one they're going to give NHL time to. There's just no long-term benefit for the club. They'd be better off bringing up a number of other players and giving them opportunity of experience and development time IMO.

I agree with Bingo, and I don't think he was taking a shot at Phillips - I think he was either taking a shot at the question/reporter, or he was taking a shot at the 'idea' that a call-up - any call-up - is some kind of magic solution.

Sutter would never give his current players a pass for bad play by suggesting that a call-up could fix things. So his answer is always going to be no way, until it happens.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Was signed to a one year contract knowing he would be a UFA at the end of the contract unless he played pretty much the whole season with the big club? Was a make it out of camp contract. Didn’t happen. You can do the math.