2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Maceo Phillips
Upside Hockey's NHL Draft profile series: American Edition Volume 25
Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed.
Draft Thoughts (American Edition, Vol. 25):
LD Mace'o Phillips (6'5", 214lbs)
NTDP: 53gp/ 2g/ 4a/ 6pts, -7, 63 PIM
Mace'o Phillips' game was on full display for the NTDP at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge, but while he was his usual mean and physical self, the Americans were caved in by the speed and pace of the superior CHL squad. Under those circumstances, it would be unfair to judge him based on this particular two-game series, but he still stood out by making some quality stops. Phillips is a behemoth, and defensive play will always be his calling card, with many scouts saying he has NHL-qualities and potential as a shutdown D in the show. His range alone blocks massive spheres of ice, and he's surprisingly effective against the rush with tight gaps, intelligent positioning and angling, as well as a well-timed stick. Threats are identified quickly, and he smothers his opponents of time and space, picks off passes to the slot, and blocks shots. He suffocates attackers with his enormous reach, and crushes them into the boards- and when he can't initiate contact, he's proactively lifting sticks or pokechecking pucks out of danger. He protects his goalies well, and keeps the front of the net clear by boxing would-be crease-crashers out.
Phillips skates well for a player his size, and though he needs to upgrade his explosiveness and acceleration, as well as his agility and edgework, he has the athleticism to improve significantly in the future. He's already a fairly active player who moves around a lot, but if he can build up his mobility he'll be a beast to go up against. He already wins inside position over the opposition quite regularly, and seems to specialize in keeping attackers at bay with deft reverse hits (as he displayed at the Prospects Challenge). According to those who watch him on more of a regular basis, he is learning to be more controlled in terms of his robust physical game, as well as his mean streak; he is learning to be a punishing hitter without taking himself out of the play, and he is taking less needless penalties. Phillips is surprisingly good at retrievals, and seeks to limit defensive zone time, but while he can make safe and simple first-pass plays, he is inconsistent when under pressure. He flashes top-tier breakout skills from time to time, with the ability to hit streaking forwards in the neutral zone for odd-man chances.
Phillips seems to be aware that he has to keep his puck-play simple, especially when under pressure. He flashes another level of vision and IQ, showing some smarts and sound ideas, but he has trouble executing them as his so-so puck skill lets him down. His plays in the offensive zone consist mainly of shots, but he does have a fairly hard and heavy release that he can get on net with reasonable frequency. There are some brief activations, but usually only to keep pucks alive. Phillips will likely never be a point-producer- and I think he knows who he is, which is a solid shutdown defender. This is not a mistake-free player however, as he can lose his man, and makes errors with the puck, but he's still quite raw and developing and his game is becoming more and more solid. He's not close to reaching his potential, and will require a long runway- which he'll get, starting next season at the University of Minnesota. In Central Scouting's Mid-Term Rankings, Phillips was 49th amongst North American players, and I could easily see a team taking him in the 3rd, or 4th-round of the draft.
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