Defenseman Clayton Phillips may be a sophomore this year at the University of Minnesota, but this is his first full season of college hockey.
The 2017 third-round draft pick by the Penguins was brought in by the Gophers midway through the 2017-18 season to inject some life and offensive production into the Minnesota blue line. He may have only played in 11 games, but it still counted as his freshman year of eligibility.
Phillips spent the first half of the 2017-18 season in the USHL, where he recorded five goals and seven assists in 16 games split between the Fargo Force and Muskegon Lumberjacks.
That scoring touch didn't translate to the college level in his freshman year, registering zero points in 11 games.
This season, taking on a larger role with the Gophers as a sophomore, Phillips has registered one goal and seven assists through 15 games, tied for the lead in scoring among Gophers defensemen. His first collegiate goal was this shot on Nov. 23:
The Philly Special! Congrats to @philli_clay on his first career goal with the #Gophers tonight. #PrideOnIce pic.twitter.com/Gx1wrtv2f5
— Minnesota M Hockey (@GopherHockey) November 24, 2018
Of Phillips' seven assists this season, five have been primary, and four have come on the power play. He has blocked just nine shots so far.
Phillips, 19, is six feet and 195 pounds this season, a jump from his 5-feet-10, 182-pound frame when he was drafted in 2017.
A left-handed shot, Phillips has split time playing on both the left and right sides of the ice this season, and has played on all three pairings as Minnesota shuffles its combinations. Like the Penguins, Minnesota's system heavily utilizes fast, puck-moving defensemen. Phillips fits that mold. When he was drafted, Randy Sexton described him as a "mobile, transitional, puck-moving defenseman.”
"I'm not a huge defenseman by any means, so I'm not going to go out there and crush anyone," Phillips told reporters after he was drafted. "But I think the style (the Penguins) play and the players they have, I'll hopefully be a great fit somewhere down the road."
Phillips already has some ties to current Penguins. Jake Guentzel's father, Mike, was an associate head coach for Minnesota during Phillips' freshman year.
Phillips also played in the offseason "Da Beauty League" in his hometown of Edina, Minnesota with Guentzel and Teddy Blueger.
"It's really cool," Phillips told the Penguins of playing in the league. "You're a small fish in a big pond out here with all these really good hockey players. It's a blast, though."
Phillips will have two more years of college hockey eligibility after this season, and he'll likely use them both, given his abbreviated freshman season. He's still young, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him crack the Penguins' lineup in a few years.
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FORWARDS
Justin Almeida
Position: Center/Wing
Size: 5-9/158
Drafted: 2018, fifth round
Team: Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Season totals: 24 games, 6 goals, 30 assists
Almeida added five assists to his season totals in three games.
Jordy Bellerive
Position: Center
Size: 5-10/195
Drafted: Undrafted
Team: Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Season totals: 30 games, 12 goals, 20 assists
Bellerive recorded one goal and one assist in three games.
Kasper Bjorkqvist
Position: Wing
Size: 6-1/198
Drafted: 2016, second round
Team: Providence College (NCAA)
Season totals: 16 games, 8 goals, 7 assists
Bjorkqvist tallied one goal and one assist in one game this week.
Jan Drozg
Position: Wing
Size: 6-0/174
Drafted: 2017, fifth round
Team: Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
Season totals: 27 games, 8 goals, 23 assists
Drozg is away from the Cataractes this week while he represents his native Slovenia in the World Junior Championship, albeit not in the main tournament. Slovenia competes in the third level tournament, the Division I Group B tournament.
Drozg leads the entire Division I B tournament through three games, with three goals and five assists. He scored this goal on Dec. 9 against Japan:
He scored two goals, including the overtime game-winning goal for Slovenia on Dec. 11 against Poland:
Drozg did an interview in Slovenian where he said that he has received offers to play in the KHL and SHL next season, but his goal is still to play in the NHL and he will be in the AHL next season. He said he gained more speed and power over the summer, but his biggest leap was in his communication skills off the ice.
Liam Gorman
Position: Center
Size: 6-2/188
Drafted: 2018, sixth round
Team: St. Sebastian’s School (USHS-Prep)
Season totals: ?
Gorman’s team played in one game this week, a 6-3 loss to Phillips Exeter Academy. His team does not post box scores or stats, but their Twitter account shows he scored St. Sebastian's second goal of the game.
Filip Hallander
Position: Center/Wing
Size: 6-1/190
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Timrå IK (SHL)
Season totals: 23 games, 5 goals, 7 assists
Hallander was scoreless in two games this week. He was named to Sweden's preliminary for the World Junior Championship.
Nikita Pavlychev
Position: Center
Size: 6-8/225
Drafted: 2015, seventh round
Team: Penn State (NCAA)
Season totals: 17 games, 10 goals, 10 assists
Pavlychev scored one goal in two games, taking advantage of his long reach in this highlight-reel tally on Dec. 8:
His goal earned the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 that day.
DEFENSEMEN
Calen Addison
Size: 5-10/180
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Season totals: 30 games, 4 goals, 27 assists
Addison registered three assists in as many games. He was named to Canada's selection camp for the World Junior Championships.
Lethbridge general manager Peter Anholt offered praise for Addison's play.
“He is very-talented, prolific skater, great passer and can really shoot the puck," Anholt said. "He’s a very good player.”
Niclas Almari
Size: 6-1/167
Drafted: 2016, fifth round
Team: HPK (Liiga), HPK U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga)
Season totals: 15 games, 2 assist with HPK; 2 games, 1 assist with HPK U20
Almari played three scoreless games with HPK this week.
Ryan Jones
Size: 6-2/186
Drafted: 2016, fourth round
Team: Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA)
Season totals: 16 games, 4 assists
Jones was scoreless in two games this week. He's playing on an awful Nebraska-Omaha team, with a record of 4-10-2. Not a single player has a plus/minus in the positives, and Jones himself is a minus-15, the lowest on the team.
Zachary Lauzon
Size: 6-1/187
Drafted: 2017, second round
Team: Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)
Season totals: None
Lauzon is still rehabbing from the neck injury he sustained last season. He has resumed training on his own and is forecast to return to game action some time in December.
Antti Palojarvi
Size: 6-1/176
Drafted: 2017, sixth round
Team: Lukko (Liiga), Lukko U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga)
Season totals: 6 games, 1 assist with Lukko; 24 games, 4 goals, 6 assists with Lukko U20
Palojarvi played in one scoreless game with the main Lukko team, and four scoreless games with the U20 team.
Clayton Phillips
Size: 5-11/182
Drafted: 2017, third round
Team: Minnesota (NCAA)
Season totals: 15 games, 1 goal, 7 assists
Phillips recorded no points in two games this week.
William Reilly
Size: 6-2/197
Drafted: 2017, seventh round
Team: Rensselaer Polytech (NCAA)
Season totals: 12 games, 2 goal, 5 assists
Reilly recorded one assist in two games this week.
GOALTENDERS
Alex D’Orio
Size: 6-2/209
Drafted: Undrafted
Team: Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
Season totals: 21 games (3-17), 4.74 goals against average, .879 save percentage
D’Orio did not play this week. He's been scratched for the past four games, as Saint John has opted to give new goaltender Mikhail Denisov some starts. The QMJHL's trading period will open up on Sunday, and D'Orio will almost certainly be moved to a competitive team.
D'Orio's numbers aren't impressive at first glance, but as I've previously explained, you can't take his numbers at face value when he's playing for an awful team. Yes, his goals against average this season is 4.74. But Saint John's goals against average without D'Orio? 7.49.