Claimed off Waivers: [PIT] F Matthew Phillips claimed off waivers by the Penguins

[HTFN]

Maybe he’ll be another Sheary.

I'm not even saying this as a rival fan, just as any other guy: if he was going to be he already would have been, Phillips is just missing an extra tool.

I'm not sure what the tool is, it could probably be any number of things, but he's good at just enough to not be a full liability but also fully missing the extra ability to be effective. If he were the same but stronger in his frame, sure. If he were no stronger but a good step faster, that might also be enough. Instead he's a guy with a great game for if he was 6'0", 180+ who just... isn't that big and doesn't have the fireplug/waterbug elements to do it at his size. If he had a lethal shot he'd be good at finding the spots for it, but there's been no indicator that he really does.

Phillips' best quality as a Capital has been having good hockey IQ, he shows up in places to steal pucks and break up passes because he does get the game pretty well, his defense seemed rated okay in fancy stats... but he's tiny and not elusive enough, so even when he gains an advantage it's an easy play for the opposition to just kind of smother and obstruct him long enough to negate that advantage.

Same goes along the boards, he makes the best touch he can and isn't bad at it, he just doesn't have the follow up tools to get much done. If he weren't so easy to completely eliminate from play he'd probably have a spot somewhere, but even players who are behind in the play can make that up by just mildly eliminating him and neutralizing the advantages he creates.

He's not shifty enough to give-and-go for the most part, so it ends up a bit of a give-and-get-stuck and then it's the same 2-on-2 for the remaining attackers. His individual touches aren't bad, often even high quality, he's just not valuable after them because he has no way to get into the play faster than his opponent.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

i think dubas might be the worst GM in NHL history and he is completely unable to learn & adapt. it is shocking. claiming this guy is not gonna do anything it just represents a total lack of awareness of how badly his strategy of 18 attackers failed in toronto. my guess is he blames all of his failures on his poor goalies.

One of the dumbest takes in this sub-forum and that’s saying something.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I'm not even saying this as a rival fan, just as any other guy: if he was going to be he already would have been, Phillips is just missing an extra tool.

I'm not sure what the tool is, it could probably be any number of things, but he's good at just enough to not be a full liability but also fully missing the extra ability to be effective. If he were the same but stronger in his frame, sure. If he were no stronger but a good step faster, that might also be enough. Instead he's a guy with a great game for if he was 6'0", 180+ who just... isn't that big and doesn't have the fireplug/waterbug elements to do it at his size. If he had a lethal shot he'd be good at finding the spots for it, but there's been no indicator that he really does.

Phillips' best quality as a Capital has been having good hockey IQ, he shows up in places to steal pucks and break up passes because he does get the game pretty well, his defense seemed rated okay in fancy stats... but he's tiny and not elusive enough, so even when he gains an advantage it's an easy play for the opposition to just kind of smother and obstruct him long enough to negate that advantage.

Same goes along the boards, he makes the best touch he can and isn't bad at it, he just doesn't have the follow up tools to get much done. If he weren't so easy to completely eliminate from play he'd probably have a spot somewhere, but even players who are behind in the play can make that up by just mildly eliminating him and neutralizing the advantages he creates.

He's not shifty enough to give-and-go for the most part, so it ends up a bit of a give-and-get-stuck and then it's the same 2-on-2 for the remaining attackers. His individual touches aren't bad, often even high quality, he's just not valuable after them because he has no way to get into the play faster than his opponent.

Analysis, sweet! As a neutral fan, appreciate it.

I’m rooting against the Pens but hope this dude finds a spot. With Pittsburgh’s situation it could be a fit. Either way, weird how many people are negative about it. It’s 25k, he’s probably one of the better waiver bets to make, so why not?

 

[MS]

I'm not even saying this as a rival fan, just as any other guy: if he was going to be he already would have been, Phillips is just missing an extra tool.

I'm not sure what the tool is, it could probably be any number of things, but he's good at just enough to not be a full liability but also fully missing the extra ability to be effective. If he were the same but stronger in his frame, sure. If he were no stronger but a good step faster, that might also be enough. Instead he's a guy with a great game for if he was 6'0", 180+ who just... isn't that big and doesn't have the fireplug/waterbug elements to do it at his size. If he had a lethal shot he'd be good at finding the spots for it, but there's been no indicator that he really does.

Phillips' best quality as a Capital has been having good hockey IQ, he shows up in places to steal pucks and break up passes because he does get the game pretty well, his defense seemed rated okay in fancy stats... but he's tiny and not elusive enough, so even when he gains an advantage it's an easy play for the opposition to just kind of smother and obstruct him long enough to negate that advantage.

Same goes along the boards, he makes the best touch he can and isn't bad at it, he just doesn't have the follow up tools to get much done. If he weren't so easy to completely eliminate from play he'd probably have a spot somewhere, but even players who are behind in the play can make that up by just mildly eliminating him and neutralizing the advantages he creates.

He's not shifty enough to give-and-go for the most part, so it ends up a bit of a give-and-get-stuck and then it's the same 2-on-2 for the remaining attackers. His individual touches aren't bad, often even high quality, he's just not valuable after them because he has no way to get into the play faster than his opponent.

Phillips is a guy I’ve followed closely since really liking him in his draft year with Victoria and this analysis is spot-on.

He’s really close to being a player … but not quite. The ingredients just don’t come together. At his size he’s missing having one skill that really pops.

 

[zappa4ever]