Mace’o Phillips

June—Phillips may not have stuffed the ‘points’ section of the scoresheet, but if you move over a few columns, you’ll see that he certainly stuffed the PIMs section. There are some players who rack up penalties by being dirty. There are others who are just so physically overpowering that they can’t really help it. Phillips is the former.

Phillips is bigger and heavier than just about every other player in this class. He throws huge hits, cross-checks like prime Ben Chiarot, and envelops opposing carriers along the wall. He only had 6 points in 60 games, so I wouldn’t expect much from him offensively. However, NHL teams have shown that they’re willing to pay through the nose to acquire these types of players at the trade deadline; why not grow one at home?—Luke Sweeney