The Jets announced they’ve recalled defenseman Isaak Phillips from AHL Manitoba. He was up with them for nine days earlier this month, but since he played twice for Manitoba over the weekend after being sent down Friday, he’s eligible to be recalled again today.
The Blackhawks took Phillips, now 24, in the fifth round of the 2020 draft. He immediately jumped to the pros thanks to the pandemic and remained in the organization until last season, at one point ranking among the team’s top 15 prospects according to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2022. His NHL debut had arrived the season prior, and after he put up five points in 16 games with a 0.4 relative CF% at even strength across multiple call-ups in 2022-23, there were plenty of reasons for optimism.
Unfortunately, Phillips faltered when given a longer leash the following season. He made 36 appearances for Chicago from 2023-25 but managed only seven points with a -26 rating and porous possession metrics, getting outscored 39-13 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. For a player whose profile was built around his defensive game, his negative net possession impacts during that time sank his momentum. After spending the vast majority of the first half of the 2024-25 campaign in the minors, the Jets acquired him in a prospect-for-prospect swap in January.
Things didn’t go well for Phillips in Manitoba down the stretch, limited to eight points and a -11 rating in 39 games. This season, though, he’s flipped the script. The 6’3″ lefty is amid a resurgent campaign with 15 points in 35 games for the Moose, among the best offensive production of his professional career, along with a +5 rating that ranks near the team lead. That performance got him his first call-up as a Jet earlier this month when Colin Miller hit injured reserve. He played in two of the six games he was rostered for, deployed as a bottom-pairing defensive specialist while averaging just 8:12 of ice time per game.
With Miller, Haydn Fleury, and Neal Pionk still on IR, Phillips will again get the chance to serve as Winnipeg’s extra defenseman and maybe get some playing time as the Jets head out on a four-game road trip that will nearly take them to the Olympic break. He signed a two-year, two-way, $1.625MM deal with a $812.5K AAV as a restricted free agent last summer, so he’s not in a contract year.