AstoriaIceNinja
Registered User
In a complete reverse of my first piece, we go from a giant European defenseman to Victoria’s small but productive center Matthew Phillips (no, not the QPR midfielder). He has the same name as me (Matija, but close enough), so he clearly has swag.
He only clocks in at 5’7†and 160 pounds according to his HockeyDB measurements, and allegedly this may be being generous. But in his brief career Phillips has set all-time record for most goals and points by a Victoria Royals rookie. Playing a lot with overager Alex Forsberg and fellow 2016-eligible Dante Hannoun, through 65 games he has 34 goals and 36 assists for a total of 70 points. This total leads all WHL rookies in points, and at the time of this writing is third across the entire CHL behind only fellow 2016 prospects Vitaly Abramov and Alexander Nylander. With Nylander being a virtual lock for the 1st round and Abramov having all the tools one would look for in a top prospect except size, I think Phillips has done enough to earn a thread here.
Phillips has star-quality skill, boasting high-end vision and scoring touch. He’s very elusive and slippery, has good breakaway speed and clearly has no trouble putting up points at the WHL level. His size will obviously be the primary impediment to his draft stock, since high-scoring junior play is not particularly indicative of pro success. But the WHL is a pretty rough-and-tumble league and Victoria in particular has been a haven for undersized players like captain Joe Hicketts who play with edge and physicality despite a size disparity.
I think Phillips is the next in that line of players, the type of guy who will get drafted towards the bottom rounds, develop in juniors as long as he his able, and put up 100+ points over the course of a full WHL season a couple years down the line before going pro. If he’s not drafted this year, which is a distinct possibility, I believe he will inevitably come up as one of those players that should have been picked but wasn’t (like Hicketts, again, or Canes prospect Sergei Tolchinsky just as examples of guys who earned ELC's as UFA's right out of their first year eligible).
Unlike the Falkovsky write-up, I don’t have a lot to go on with Phillips. He’s been getting some buzz on this site’s Victoria Royals thread, though, and I found the following YouTube video about him.
I essentially echoed a lot of things the video says, since I am generally of the belief that skill is king over other considerations as far as drafting players is concerned. I would gamble on him in the later rounds of the draft with the acknowledgment that his skill level is that of a higher round pick but also realizing that he could be available later and wishing to maximize resources. Failing that, someone should at least give him a camp invite.
He only clocks in at 5’7†and 160 pounds according to his HockeyDB measurements, and allegedly this may be being generous. But in his brief career Phillips has set all-time record for most goals and points by a Victoria Royals rookie. Playing a lot with overager Alex Forsberg and fellow 2016-eligible Dante Hannoun, through 65 games he has 34 goals and 36 assists for a total of 70 points. This total leads all WHL rookies in points, and at the time of this writing is third across the entire CHL behind only fellow 2016 prospects Vitaly Abramov and Alexander Nylander. With Nylander being a virtual lock for the 1st round and Abramov having all the tools one would look for in a top prospect except size, I think Phillips has done enough to earn a thread here.
Phillips has star-quality skill, boasting high-end vision and scoring touch. He’s very elusive and slippery, has good breakaway speed and clearly has no trouble putting up points at the WHL level. His size will obviously be the primary impediment to his draft stock, since high-scoring junior play is not particularly indicative of pro success. But the WHL is a pretty rough-and-tumble league and Victoria in particular has been a haven for undersized players like captain Joe Hicketts who play with edge and physicality despite a size disparity.
I think Phillips is the next in that line of players, the type of guy who will get drafted towards the bottom rounds, develop in juniors as long as he his able, and put up 100+ points over the course of a full WHL season a couple years down the line before going pro. If he’s not drafted this year, which is a distinct possibility, I believe he will inevitably come up as one of those players that should have been picked but wasn’t (like Hicketts, again, or Canes prospect Sergei Tolchinsky just as examples of guys who earned ELC's as UFA's right out of their first year eligible).
Unlike the Falkovsky write-up, I don’t have a lot to go on with Phillips. He’s been getting some buzz on this site’s Victoria Royals thread, though, and I found the following YouTube video about him.
I essentially echoed a lot of things the video says, since I am generally of the belief that skill is king over other considerations as far as drafting players is concerned. I would gamble on him in the later rounds of the draft with the acknowledgment that his skill level is that of a higher round pick but also realizing that he could be available later and wishing to maximize resources. Failing that, someone should at least give him a camp invite.
