Wednesday morning gifted Blackhawks world with some wonderful news. Isaak Phillips signed his Entry Level Contract (ELC). It’s a 3-year deal that kicks in for the 2021-22 season and runs through 2023-24. 

Phillips was a 2020 5th round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. After signing an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO) at the end of January and the AHL season kicked off, he quickly became one of the mainstays on the IceHogs blue line. Phillips has seen himself outside of the lineup in only 4 of the 18 games Rockford has played. 

Before joining the IceHogs, Isaak Phillips spent 2 seasons with the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. He played 131 games with the Wolves and registered 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points. For those of you that like looking at the plus/minus stat, he was a +10. 

Through 14 games with the IceHogs, he’s registered 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. He has 1 game-winning goal that came off of a beautiful blast from the blue line late in the third period. It may still hold up as the biggest goal of the year as it earned the IceHogs their first victory in 2021 after 6 straight losses. He’s an even 0 in the plus/minus column. With how many goals the IceHogs have given up in 2021, that’s impressive. 

Heading into this season, Phillips was quite the unknown asset. There typically isn’t a whole lot expected from a 5th round pick. At that point in the draft, it’s great if they become an everyday player, but it’s likely that they won’t. 

Phillips has proven why he deserved to be drafted and why he deserves the ice time he’s getting with the Hogs. To be expected, there have been some rookie mistakes. None of them have been really memorable, and the team as a whole is very young and inexperienced at the pro level. If I had to go off the eye test alone, I’d say he’s made less mistakes than the majority of rookies. You take that every day with a defender. Especially a 19 year old defender. 

The most impressive aspect of Phillips’ game is his skating. He’s a big guy at 6’3” and 194 lbs (according to Elite Prospects). Watching him on the ice, you’d never guess he was one of the bigger players on the roster. He’s smooth, speedy and has the footwork and awareness to be evasive when he has the puck on his stick. 

He’s also just plain fun to watch. He uses his skating and puck control to his advantage and isn’t afraid to skate the puck into the zone himself and take it to the net. He can look like an extra forward out there at times. Yet, it never seems to hurt his defensive game. He’s got the awareness to pick his spots. When he’s got coverage in the case of a turnover, he’s unpredictable and it’s exciting to watch. He’ll shoot it himself, dish the puck off to a teammate, or take the puck for a skate to open up room for more opportunities. 

It’s tough to really gauge the defensive side of his game. As stated above, the team is young and inexperienced. There have been a lot of goals scored on them and the team has a losing record. They can all stand to improve. But, as a 19 year old rookie, there’s not just one thing that you can really point to as his weakness. 

This has all been extremely positive, and that’s truly how I feel about his performance this season. But, don’t take that as me saying he’s just elite and done progressing his game and is ready to be an everyday NHL player. That’s not the case. He still needs development time. He needs to see more defensive situations at the pro level. Defensive awareness, time, and stick work can always be worked on and improved. 

What it comes down to - when you consider his age and experience, Isaak Phillips is definitely outperforming expectations. At the very least, he’s outperformed my expectations. It’s been a joy having him on the IceHogs’ back end, and I can’t wait to see where his game goes from here. If he keeps putting in the hard work, the Blackhawks will be looking at this 5th round selection as an absolute steal. 

You can quote me on that.