12:33 p.m.: Winnipeg made the trade official Wednesday afternoon, confirming it’s a one-for-one swap.
11:49 a.m.: The Jets are finalizing a trade to acquire defenseman Isaak Phillips from the Blackhawks in exchange for 21-year-old defense prospect Dmitri Kuzmin, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Wednesday.
Phillips, 23, is a 6’3″ lefty who Chicago drafted in the fifth round in 2020. He has 56 NHL games to his name already, but just three have come this season.
Aside from a few recalls in the first few weeks of the campaign, Phillips has spent 2024-25 entirely in the AHL with Rockford. Now in his fifth professional season, getting an early start thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the OHL’s operations in 2020-21, he has eight points in 28 games on the farm with 54 PIMs and a plus-eight rating.
Phillips has an eye-popping -37 rating in his brief NHL career, although it’s hard to judge a still-raw defender on one of the league’s worst teams during that timeframe. Even still, relative to his Chicago teammates during that time, his possession numbers have been poor.
Chicago has controlled 42.4% of shot attempts with Phillips on the ice since his debut in 2021-22, 3.7% worse than their share without him. That’s a significant margin for a player whose primary calling is their defensive skills, although he has also provided 12 points, 47 blocks and 89 hits.
He still has upside, though, and Winnipeg was likely on the hunt for a slightly more experienced recall option than what they had in the system. The younger Kuzmin heads the other way, with the Blackhawks gaining a riskier but higher-ceiling talent in the swap.
The Jets drafted the Belarusian native 82nd overall in 2021, and he promptly came over to North America to suit up in the major junior ranks. The 5’10” lefty posted 103 points and a +18 rating in 122 games with the OHL’s Flint Firebirds across two seasons before turning pro with the Winnipeg organization in 2023.
Only this season has Kuzmin established himself as a semi-regular in the AHL. He split 2023-24 between the Jets’ AHL affiliate in their backyard and their ECHL affiliate in Norfolk, and his numbers didn’t pop off the page in either league.
This season, Kuzmin has been limited to a goal and three assists for four points with a minus-nine rating through 21 appearances. It’s clear things weren’t quite working out for the puck-mover in Winnipeg’s system, so he’ll get a fresh start in the Windy City with a year and a half left on his entry-level contract.
The swap won’t affect either team’s roster count or salary cap,, as both are actively on AHL assignments. However, the Jets will need to work with Phillips, who will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the season.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Oooooh Winnipeg is going for it this year. Spicy!
Jets W, Yeah he still couldn’t consistently find a spot in Chicago but Phillips is the better player in the trade