Penguins claim forward Matthew Phillips off waivers

Winger from Washington adds to Pittsburgh’s depth

The Penguins have some new found salary cap space with Jake Guentzel on LTIR and used some of it to make a claim off waivers today. Matthew Phillips, formerly of Washington, come on down!

The Pens have been active on waivers this season, already claiming Jansen Harkins and John Ludvig. Like Guentzel, Harkins is currently on the IR.

Listed at 5’8” and 160 pounds, Phillips has shown a great ability to score at every level up to the NHL. He was drafted and spent the first five years of his career with Calgary’s organization after lighting up the WHL. The Capitals had signed him to a one-year contract this year and gave him his first true NHL opportunity, though he played his way down the lineup and had become the odd player out.

In his small NHL sample this year, Phillips has displayed some decent defensive metrics, it’s surprisingly been his scoring that has lagged with only one goal and five points in 27 games this season with the Caps.

This could be a short-term stint for Phillips in Pittsburgh, since eventually players like Harkins, Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto will be back from IR in the not-too-distant future.

The Pens last night used an NHL roster that included Valtteri Puustinen, Colin White, Jonathan Gruden and Jesse Puljujarvi, this claim of Phillips indicates they’re willing to look outside the organization to see if they can find a player with some spark.

Pittsburgh tried a similar move many moons ago in claiming Chris Bourque from the Caps and the results were temporary. Whether Phillips lasts with the Pens longer than a brief cup of coffee will be determined by how he plays in the near future. Big opportunity for him, and hopefully he can bring some hunger and flash some skill to help the Pens. If not, they can waive him and send him away just as easily as they got him.