Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Gophers commit Clayton Phillips traded to Muskegon

Clayton Phillips is now a member of the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The Edina, MN native and Minnesota defenseman verbal commit was traded Tuesday from the Fargo Force (USHL) to Muskegon. The Lumberjacks received Phillips and a 9th round 2018 USHL Phase 1 pick in exchange for 2nd round 2018 USHL Phase 1 and Phase 2 picks, along with a player to be named later. (Here's a primer as to what Phase 1 and Phase 2 drafts mean.)

Phillips asked to be traded, according to Fargo head coach Cary Eades. Chris Murphy of The Forum reported that Phillips was not in the Force lineup last Thursday nor did he play in either of Fargo's two road wins at Omaha last weekend.

"They've been great to me," Phillips told the author last season about the Fargo coaching staff. "I got my feet wet a little bit (in 2015-16) and this year they've been great to me, putting me in situations and it's been good."

Something changed between then and now. Fargo's leading returning scorer this season, the 5'11", 188 lbs Phillips had three points (1G-2A) in three games. A year ago he finished with 20 points (7G-13A) in 56 regular season games.

Listed at 5'11", 188 lbs, Phillips is an offensive defenseman who likes to join in the rush.

Muskegon has previously been home to Gopher players like Michael Brodzinski, Eric Schierhorn and Rem Pitlick, who found new life with the Lumberjacks when traded.

Philips is expected to arrive at Minnesota in fall 2018 after graduating high school. One of the younger draft eligible players, he is a 2017 3rd round NHL draft pick (99th overall) of Pittsburgh.

No comments:

Post a Comment