The Washington Capitals placed forward Matthew Phillips on waivers on February 15, and just under 24 hours later, the Pittsburgh Penguins added the 25-year-old to their roster. Since then, he has skated with some of Pittsburgh’s best both past and present.
Phillips laced up in the black and yellow for the first time on Saturday morning, just feet away from veteran Jaromir Jagr. The two-time Stanley Cup champion was asked to practice with the team ahead of his jersey retirement ceremony.
“I think they threw just about everything at me today as far as fans and Jagr and all that,” Phillips said of his first skate with the team on Saturday to NHL.com. “But, I mean, it was pretty cool. I know not many people were watching me out there.”
The next day, the undersized forward made his Pittsburgh debut after Jagr was honored pregame. Phillips registered one shot on goal and one hit in 11:00 of ice time during the Penguin’s 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
After playing on the third line with Jesse Puljujarvi and Lars Eller on Sunday, Phillips was moved up by Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan to the second line alongside Evgeni Malkin and Drew O’Connor at Monday’s practice. Phillips was also placed on a power-play unit alongside Kris Letang, Malkin, Jeff Carter, and Reilly Smith.
“He’s a top-10 scorer in the minors,” Sullivan said explaining the move. “He’s averaging 35-plus goals in the last couple of seasons. He’s willing to go to the battle areas, even though he’s undersized… I think he has the ability to help us offensively.”
“You try not to overthink it,” Phillips said about sharing a line with Malkin. “I had a good experience in Washington with a lot of superstars there, and you’re a little starstruck for the first little while. And then you got to just understand you’re here for a reason, too, and work together. And obviously, he’s a world-class player and can learn a lot from him and just do my best to have success.”
The 5-foot-eight, 160 pounder may not be the most physically dominating player on the ice, but his speed and footwork make him effective.
“I think I am a quick player,” Phillips says. “I think I’m very hardworking, I think my hockey sense is one of my strong suits, I like to think I play a little bigger than I am.”
Phillips, whose only time logged in Pittsburgh came from a Capitals’ away game, had less than 24 hours between getting the call of his claim and stepping on the ice in the Steel City.
“Yeah, [it’s] pretty crazy, I got the call at about 2 o’clock [Friday] and packed up my life and hit the road,” Phillips said. “I got here about 11 [PM on Friday], and yeah it’s great, I’m really excited to be here.”
Phillips registered five points (1g, 4a) in his 27 games with the Caps this season and it was likely placed on waivers to make room for Sonny Milano, who returned from injury on Saturday night, took the ice in an NHL game for the first time in over two months.
