Flames 2025 Draft profile: Mace’o Phillips

As we know, the Flames love their big players. Phillips was an option that intrigued the team heavily, given his style of play and competitive attitude. His potential to become a shutdown defensive presence strongly contributed to the Flames taking a chance on him. Phillps will be joining the NCAA next season, as he’s committed to the University of Minnesota.

Phillips and his role with the Flames

With Phillips being left-handed it allows for the defensive prospect pool to only get deeper. The Flames have many right-shot defencemen in their system with the likes of Zayne Parekh, Henry Mews and Hunter Brzustewicz. As for the left, Etienne Morin and Ilya Solovyov are notable players in that category. Therefore, the addition of Phillips is a good contrast to the number of offensive defence prospects the Flames have.

Assuming his development goes smoothly, Phillips could be a future bottom-pair physical presence on the Flames’ blueline. He’d have to combine his physicality with skill, but it’s certainly something that reaps rewards when done effectively. I could see a scenario where Phillips could be a future fan favourite with the Flames, entertaining fans with his hard hits and combining that with his strong defensive awareness.

How this player fits into the Flames’ core

With how many different prospects the Flames have on the blueline, Philips may be a player who takes longer compared to the others. Philips’ ceiling is still uncertain, but he has many attractive attributes that could set him up as an effective NHLer in the future. It also helps that Phillips provides depth for the left side. If he shot right, the competition would’ve been fiercer.

As mentioned, I view Phillips as developing into a strong physical defenceman who can slot in on the Flames’ third pair. He has the tools to be a strong AHLer, but I would like to see him translate his game into the NHL. He also has a great personality and overall attitude towards the game.

The NCAA will further Phillips’ skill set quite well. There he’ll be able to play with harder competition and in a more competitive environment. Overall, I think Flames fans are quite happy with this pick, and he could very well become a fan favourite in Calgary if he keeps up the play he’s known for.