One of the quickest, strangest runs for an NHL player in Pittsburgh came to an end earlier today, when the Washington Capitals claimed forward Matthew Phillips off waivers from the Penguins.

Phillips joined the Penguins just a few weeks prior, when the team claimed him off waivers from Washington.

Phillips was in the midst of his first real NHL season with the Capitals, making the team out of training camp. But after just 1 goal and 4 assists in 27 games for the Capitals, the team waived him.

Kyle Dubas took a flyer on the kid, who at 25 years old is still looking to make an NHL name for himself.

He’s already done that in the American Hockey League. Phillips has been near the top of the AHL in scoring for multiple years now. Last season, he tallied 76 points in 66 AHL games, which was fifth in the AHL.

He’s shown a scoring prowess in the minor leagues for several seasons, but his NHL game has been stagnant in terms of production, and has shifted somewhat to the defensive aspect of the game.

Depending on the source, Phillips is listed as either 5′ 7 or 5′ 8, but in either case, he’s an undersized player by NHL standards. At around 140 pounds, he also doesn’t bring the physicality or a big checking style of game. So if he isn’t scoring, he isn’t offering much.

Of course, he isn’t the only player on this Penguins team who fits that description.

It was a no-risk, high-reward bet for Dubas and the Penguins to make, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out. In fairness to Phillips, he didn’t get much of a chance to prove himself in Pittsburgh.

Phillips only got into 3 games as a Penguin, averaging 11:20 a night. He recorded no points in that time frame, and registered 4 shots on goal.

I really wanted Phillips to succeed here. Call me a Matthew Phillips truther. I do believe he can have a viable NHL career if given the right opportunity. There’s too much scoring potential to give up on him at 25.

Despite that, I can acknowledge that he didn’t look great in his limited action with the Penguins. There were several times I thought he could have shot the puck or made a move to get to the net and he just…didn’t.

He didn’t catch my eye a whole lot outside of his first game, and by the looks of it, that also applied to head coach Mike Sullivan.

That being said, I would have liked to see Phillips get more of a chance here in Pittsburgh, especially as Sullivan has trotted out Jansen Harkins night in and night out, who still has no goals on the season.

Phillips now goes back to the Capitals organization, where the team has loaned him to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. When he takes the ice for them, it will be the first AHL minutes for him this season.

So long, Mr. Phillips. I look forward to putting you in a lot of Puckdoku squares.

(Featured photo by Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)