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Good news for Matthew Phillips as the forward has just been signed to the Colorado Avalanche for a one-year two-way deal. This comes just after Oliver Kylington was added to the team’s roster, further shaping its upcoming 2024/2025 season. This deal is reported to be worth around $775,000 and has a minor league salary of $287,500.
NFL fans have been a bit divided on Philips so far. While his career hasn’t been making headlines per se, he has had a decent run with the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.
In this last season, he secured one goal and four assists over 31 NHL games. In the AHL 2022/2023 season, he scored 36 goals and 76 points in 66 games. Given this disparity between his AHL and NHL performance, some fans are divided about whether he will perform well with the Avalanche. It’s also a very interesting time for Phillips to make this career move as hockey as a whole is seeing great change.
Consider the growing use of cryptocurrency, for example. digital assets did not have much of a presence in hockey a few years ago but now, they are being used more often. We’ve seen the rise of cryptocurrency gambling and several sites have popped up over the last few years that allow fans to bet on games with cryptocurrency. Because cryptocurrency can spike in value and offers more privacy and control for users, the stakes of each game have been raised significantly so there is more pressure than ever before on players to perform. We also see companies like Crypto.com starting to sponsor teams and events like the Montreal Canadiens.
With this announcement, Phillips will compete for the fourth-line winger position with the Avalanche but could also play in the AHL.
Besides the implications for Phillips himself, there is also a lot riding on this for the Avalanche. The team won the Stanley Cup in 2022 but hasn’t quite recaptured the same magic in the following years. currently, they seem like likely contenders, especially with the addition of forward Nathan MacKinnon.
Then there is the matter of goaltending, which is believed to be one of their biggest flaws. In the year when they won the Stanley Cup, Darcey Kuemper was in the goaltending position but left soon after. Now, the Avalanche have recruited Alexandar Georgiev to replace him.
“I’d like to see him be more consistent. I seem to like Colorado, and I like watching Nathan MacKinnon play as much as I can. If they get good goaltending, they’re going to be a pretty solid team,” he said in a recent interview.
