Capitals reclaim Matthew Phillips off waivers from Penguins then sent him to Hershey
Matthew Phillips is sort of back, at least with the good guys.
After the 2 p.m. waiver wire expired from yesterday, the Washington Capitals got their summer prize in the youth department in Matthew Phillips back from their bitter rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins recently claimed him but them waiving him yesterday allowed Phillips to fall right into Brian MacLellan's lap.
In 30 games at the NHL level Phillips, who made the team out of training camp after a dominant preseason, recorded five points in 30 games with one goal and four assists. That first NHL goal would come against the Calgary Flames, the fomer organization that drafted him.
The Penguins claimed him on Feb. 16 so it's been a long road back to the jedi side for the Calgary native. He also notched his first assist against his hometown team in a 3-2 shootout win on Oct. 16. He was drafted by the Flames in the sixth round at 166th overall of the 2016 NHL Draft and spent seven years in that organization. The Caps signed him over this past summer in free agency.
Between the Penguins and Flames, Phillips only played a combined three NHL games. With the Calgary Wranglers last season he recorded 76 points in 66 games with 36 goas and 40 assists. Back at the time they were the top AHL team record wise and he led them in scoring while ranking second in the American Hockey League in goals.
Now he joins Evgeny Kuznetsov on a stacked Hershey Bears team that is looking to defend their Calder Cup. It looks like they're embracing Kuznetsov with open arms up there which puts a smile on all of our faces. Imagine Kuznetsov and Phillips dominating on a line in the AHL together. Maybe if the Caps miss the playoffs again, the Bears will have us all covered for our summer hockey fix.
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