The ex-Capitals forward discussed a wild first day with he Penguins organization.
Matthew Phillips was ready to head to Pennsylvania one way or another on Friday after being waived by the Washington Capitals, but rather than heading to Hershey to join the AHL-affiliate Bears, he instead drove three hours west to join Washington's rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
Phillips got the call that he had not cleared waivers after all, as the Penguins ended up taking a flyer on the 5-foot-8 forward amid multiple injuries up front.
"I got the call at about two o'clock yesterday and packed up my life and hit the road," Phillips told the media in Pittsburgh on Saturday. "Got here about 11 last night. It's great, I'm really excited to be here."
Still, the process has been a bit of a shock for the 25-year-old. Just 24 hours after wrapping up a lengthy last practice with Alex Ovechkin and Washington, he was with an entirely new team and took the ice with another legend as Jaromir Jagr joined the team for practice ahead of his number retirement on Sunday.
"They threw just about everything at me today," he laughed, adding, "It was pretty cool. I know not many people were watching me out there."
However, he welcomes the change, especially with the Penguins wanting to give him another chance to prove himself at the NHL level after spending the majority of his tenure in Washington as a healthy scratch.
"To just kind of flip on the side of the rivalry overnight essentially is pretty interesting," Phillips said. "It's a pretty cool experience for me, and I'm honored that they felt the need to take a chance on me, and I'm trying make the most of it here.
"I just wanna play my game and help this team win. I kinda got my feet wet at the NHL level this year with Washington and just try to keep building off that, play with a lot of confidence and do my thing."