It is day two of the NHL’s annual free agency frenzy, and in a down year for talented players without contracts, over $200 million was dished out league-wide on Canada Day. The Calgary Flames stood pat, most likely due to their league-worst $2.4 million in available cap space. They lost free agents Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Troy Stecher (Arizona Coyotes), and Trevor Lewis (Los Angeles Kings), and are potentially going to watch Nick Ritchie, Michael Stone, and Dryden Hunt among others walk out the door as well. This comes after trading away their best forward in Tyler Toffoli and an abundance of trade talk around first-line centre Elias Lindholm and stud defenseman Noah Hanifin. One player they should not be so keen to lose is the star of their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Calgary Wranglers, forward Matthew Phillips.
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The 25-year-old Phillips is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) for the first time in his career, meaning he is more than welcome to explore opportunities with other teams. Up until this point the Flames exclusively held his signing rights, and in normal circumstances, this would again apply and he would remain a restricted free agent. However, because he did not accrue the necessary amount of NHL games (80) after his 25th birthday, he is part of the rare “group six” UFA subsection. Phillips is a Calgary native and was probably ecstatic to be drafted by his hometown NHL club but unfortunately, he has only donned the flaming ‘C’ three times in his five years as a pro. The Flames would still be wise to not let him go, and here are the three biggest reasons why.
Phillips’ Immense Offensive Talent
There are some certainties in life like death, taxes, and Phillips piling up points at every level of hockey he plays at. When he was drafted by the Flames, he had just come off of a season in which he scored 37 goals and 76 points in 72 games for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Despite these numbers, NHL scouts didn’t like his diminutive stature; he stands at just 5-foot-7 and weighs in at only 140 pounds. The Flames took a flier on him with a sixth-rounder and he made them look pretty smart in return. The next season he improved with a whopping 50 goals and 90 points in 70 contests. He was rewarded with a call-up to the then-AHL affiliate Stockton Heat where he tallied an assist in his pro debut. In his last year of junior, he exploded for 48 goals and 112 points in 71 games to go along with 19 points in 11 playoff appearances.
Phillips successfully transitioned to pro in the 2018-19 season where he totalled 13 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Heat. His offensive flair and confidence with the puck only improved from there. Injuries and COVID-19 limited him to a combined 68 matches from 2019-21, but he still scored an impressive 54 points during that time. The 2021-22 season saw him breakout as a pro, rippling the twine 31 times and had 68 total points in 65 games. As the Heat moved to his hometown Calgary and became the Wranglers for 2022-23, he took it up another notch as he finished fifth in the AHL with 76 points in 66 games, finishing as an AHL All-Star for the first time in his career. His 36 goals were second in the league and he had the most game-winning tallies with an insane total of 15. No other Wranglers player scored 60 points or 30 goals last season. He is also very well disciplined with a career-high in penalty minutes of only 16.
2023-24 Will Offer More Opportunity
One bargaining chip that the Flames may be able to convince Phillips to stay with is more opportunity this upcoming season. Former head coach Darryl Sutter was well noted for not incorporating younger players into his lineups, most likely the brunt of the reasoning behind Phillips’ minuscule three-game NHL career thus far. Sutter was reluctant to dress 2019 first-round pick Jakob Pelletier and was reported as having a strained relationship with him when his hand was forced to do so for 24 games last season. 2021 first-rounder and college standout Matt Coronato merely played in the season finale when the team was already eliminated from the playoffs. Even in Phillips’ three games, Sutter only played him for an average of 10:48 per match and didn’t give him very many offensive zone starts or much for time on the power play.
This season will be vastly different. Sutter has been relieved of his duties and replaced with Ryan Huska, who is very familiar with Phillips’ play as the former head coach of the Stockton Heat as well as during his time as an assistant with the Flames. Huska should be more than willing to employ more youth and speed in his forward core, especially with the departing Toffoli, Lucic, Lewis, and Ritchie. Toffoli specifically will be hard to replace. The team got Yegor Sharangovich in return for him and he should replicate some of his offence, but this is where Phillips could step in and help out significantly.
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Toffoli was a focal point of the Flames’ power play in addition to a top-six mainstay at even-strength. In the AHL, Phillips recorded 31 of his 76 points with the man advantage and had 24 in 65 games the season prior. There are plenty of holes in the top nine even with Sharangovich in the fold, and Phillips could occupy one while filling in on special teams. Should more prominent forwards get dealt, the need for him could grow even more.
Flames Need to Start Retaining More Talent
Simply put, the Flames can’t afford to keep letting talented players leave town. Toffoli joins a relatively substantial list of individuals that have bid adieu to Calgary in the last few years. As mentioned previously, trade rumours circle the team with six prominent members on expiring contracts at the conclusion of 2023-24. Going back a year, the team infamously traded star forward Matthew Tkachuk after he refused to re-sign with the Flames. That same summer, fellow star Johnny Gaudreau left town for the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency and longtime centre Sean Monahan was shipped off to the Montreal Canadiens. All three were drafted by the Flames and achieved a great deal of their stardom in the red, orange, and white. Hanifin is likely to jump ship as well, and if Lindholm leaves too the team will have not much left from their 2017 trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.
While Phillips may not be anywhere near comparable to the departed or potentially departing players, it would still be a shame to add his name to the list of homegrown talent gone. Phillips would have no shortage of suitors from around the league, but there’s only one NHL team that plays in his hometown. He has signed two consecutive one-year, two-way contracts after the expiry of his entry-level contract back in 2021. He likely wouldn’t command much more than the league minimum on a new deal, similar to the one fellow Wrangler Walker Duehr just signed in 2023.
In conclusion, Phillips is far too talented and there is no better time than this season to see what he’s made of at the NHL level. He’s shown that he is ready and has the potential to help the team succeed offensively while not being too expensive, a commodity that is tough to find in today’s NHL. With all of the uncertainty surrounding the Flames, they could benefit from sticking with someone they know well and seeing where he takes them.