Montreal Canadiens: Even With Crowded Camp, Why Not Claim Matthew Phillips Off Waivers?

The Montreal Canadiens entered camp with a whopping 74 players on the roster. They have cut that number down quite a bit, but still have plenty of bodies remaining at training camp.

As it stands today, the Canadiens still have 26 forwards on their roster, so half of them will need to be sent back down to Junior, or dropped to the Laval Rocket roster before the NHL regular season begins on October 12th.

That is a lot of forwards to have around, but with four preseason games in the next six days, they do need to fill out a roster for each game. Cutting down to 13 after their final exhibition game on October 8th will make for some difficult decisions.

Canadiens Should Claim Matthew Phillips Despite Crowded Roster

Even with so many forwards around, it would make a lot of sense for the Canadiens to dip into the waiver pool today. The Calgary Flames have placed talented forward Matthew Phillips on waivers, and he is free for the taking. Based on their position in the standings last season (last place) the Habs have first dibs when it comes to waiver claims.

Phillips is a 24 year old forward who has not been given a shot at the NHL level with the Flames. He scored 31 goals and 68 points in 65 AHL games last season, and has a combined 122 points in 133 AHL games over the past three seasons.

Phillips, a Calgary native, was drafted in the 6th round of the 2016 NHL Draft, then proceeded to score 50 goals the following season in the WHL, and another 48 snipes the year after that.

The Flames are in Stanley Cup contention mode, and apparently don’t want to wait any longer to see what Phillips can become. Of course, they still haven’t given him a single opportunity to showcase his skills either. Though they don’t want to give him a chance this season, he would make a lot of sense on the Habs roster.

A rebuilding team like the Canadiens could use a skilled, young player who hasn’t had an NHL chance yet. If he can score at the NHL level anywhere near what he does at the AHL level, then he is a valuable player to have around.

Of course, there is that huge logjam of forwards on the Habs roster right now. However, the timing of Phillips going on waivers if perfect. The Canadiens could claim him today, let him play a couple of preseason games before really making a decision on him.

After getting to see him play a few games, then they could make room for him on their roster by moving a veteran like Mike Hoffman. Or just try to sneak Phillips through waivers on the day that rosters are due and other teams don’t really have the room to make a claim.

The Habs have found some solid NHL producers in the past on waivers when they claimed Rem Pitlick and Paul Byron. Matthew Phillips is another skilled forward who might shine when given a bigger opportunity in Montreal than he had elsewhere.

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