UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Penn State men's ice hockey team announced the addition of junior transfer Clayton Phillips to their 2019-20 roster Wednesday morning. The left-shot defenseman will be immediately eligible to play this season and has two years of eligibility remaining after being granted an NCAA transfer waiver.
"Clayton is an elite skating defenseman who will add depth and experience to our roster with his previous NCAA participation," commented Gadowsky. "He moves pucks extremely well and likes to get up in the play making him a great addition to our back end."
Phillips, a 2017 third-round draft pick (93rd overall) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, joins the Nittany Lions after spending the past year and a half playing for Big Ten foe Minnesota. Phillips scored one goal while adding nine assists in 34 games last season and played 11 games during the 2017-18 season.
"I choose Penn State [as a transfer school] because of the combination of athletics and academics," mentioned Phillips. "Penn State provides every opportunity you need to succeed as a student-athlete in both the classroom and on the ice."
The Edina, Minnesota, native joined the Golden Gophers midway through the 2017-18 season after spending parts of three seasons in the USHL. Phillips finished his stint in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, scoring four goals with five assists for nine points in 13 games. Prior to being traded to Muskegon, Phillips played 62 games over three seasons for the Fargo Force, tallying eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points.
Internationally, Phillips has earned two gold medals with the U.S. Junior Select Team at the 2016 World Junior A Challenge and with the U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the 2015 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. Phillips also has two silver medals to his credit with the U.S. Junior Select Team at the 2017 World Junior A Challenge and with the U.S. Under-18 Select Team at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Phillips will become the 12th player with NHL rights to lace up his skates in Hockey Valley, and at 93rd overall, he is the fourth-highest selection behind Eamon McAdam (70 – 2013), Max Gardiner (74 – 2010) and Evan Barratt (90 – 2017). The Nittany Lions now have seven NHL draft picks on their roster this season as Phillips joins seniors Nikita Pavlychev (Pittsburgh) and Denis Smirnov (Colorado), juniors Cole Hults (Los Angeles) and Evan Barratt (Chicago), sophomore Aarne Talvitie (New Jersey) and freshman Kevin Wall (Carolina).
Penn State opens the 2019-20 campaign on October 6 when it hosts Ottawa in the International Game before hosting Sacred Heart for an opening weekend series on October 11-12. Single-game tickets and verified resale tickets are available on ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-NITTANY for select single-game tickets and standing room only.
