Any time a team can add a former 76-point scorer, the answer is usually a resounding yes. The Hershey Bears held their breath to see if they’d add such a player in Matthew Phillips. Their NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals, placed the scorer on waivers on Thursday. It’d be a tense 24-hour wait to see if the Chocolate and White gained his services going down the stretch.
Claimed By a Familiar Foe
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as the rival Pittsburgh Penguins swooped in and claimed Phillips. He joins the Penguins as the 23rd player on their active roster rather than join the Bears. As part of the waiver process, Phillips is required to play on the Penguins’ roster. If not, Phillips would need to be exposed to waivers again, and should the Capitals re-claim him, he’d be able to go directly to Hershey.
It puts the Bears in a precarious position. The Capitals essentially lost a player in their depth chart with Phillips being claimed. Now, one injury is all that separates the Bears from losing a player after narrowly missing out on gaining one. Washington no longer has players on their injured list who can return to action, either. With Evgeny Kuznetsov in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program and Nick Backstrom’s playing days likely over, there’s no players waiting in the wings.
Deadline Dread
The clock is ticking on Phillips. In order to be eligible to play for Hershey, Pittsburgh would have to place him on waivers before the trade deadline on March 8. If that happens and he’s loaned to Hershey, the Bears will have merely been delayed in acquiring his services. Otherwise, he’ll spend the rest of the 2023-24 season as a member of the Black and Gold.
A silver lining for Bears fans is that it’s highly unlikely he’d ever play for their rival, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Phillips would need to placed on waivers by Pittsburgh and go unclaimed in order for that to happen. Pittsburgh has a few injuries of their own, with top players like Jake Guentzel and Matt Nieto on long-term injured reserve. Others, like Jansen Harkins and Noel Acciari, are on injured reserve. If any of those players return, Pittsburgh will have to move a player to make room for him – likely their newest member in Phillips.
Lineup Conundrum
In addition to being one injury away from losing another player, Hershey has another problem. The Bears have been without Mike Sgarbossa since returning from the All-Star break. Now, they’ll be without him indefinitely as the Capitals have their group of 23 players. Sgarbossa will need waivers after 30 days of his call-up or if he plays ten games, both numbers he’s closing in on. He is currently at 11 days and five games as of this article’s posting.
Sgarbossa is Hershey’s leading scorer with 43 points (seven goals, 36 assists) in 44 games played. Per broadcaster (and friend of the site) Zack Fisch, the Caps are well aware of Sgarbossa’s value to Hershey. It’s possible that they’ll swap Sgarbossa with another center, like Hendrix Lapierre, to avoid exposing him to waivers. Former Bears head coach and current Caps bench boss Spencer Carbery spoke to the reasoning behind Sgarbossa’s recall. The move allows Lapierre to have a starring role in the Sweetest Place on Earth.
“I think Sgarbs has earned the opportunity for a look,” Carbery said of the call-up. “The reason behind that is that Lappy has done a lot of meaningful things, played a lot of meaningful games. Where we’re at, bringing that veteran player in that’s played a lot in the National Hockey League. Letting Lappy play big minutes in a large role in the American Hockey League at this portion of the season is the best decision.”
For Now…
The Bears will have to live without Sgarbossa or Phillips for the time being. Hershey embarks on a road trip through Canada this weekend against North Division foes. It’ll be the latest challenge for the Chocolate and White this season to keep up their success minus the services of two elite players. The team’s center depth will rely on the likes of Lapierre, Jimmy Huntington, Garrett Roe, and Riley Sutter to get by. Two of those players helped the Bears to a Calder Cup, and the other two are earning their stripes with the team.
If anything, this is a call to action for Hershey’s current lineup. There’s plenty more to give for the current roster of the Hershey Bears, which has already been very potent this season. It’s the latest test for this group to pass. Players like Lapierre and other youngsters like Ivan Miroshnichenko, Henrik Rybinski, and Bogdan Trineyev to step up. Finding success will be a factor in a successful buildup to the postseason.
