Phillips makes return to Giants

The signing comes after Phillips impressed Giants head coach Doug Christiansen while in action with Team GB at the World Championships in Slovenia.

"Davey has all the tools," Christiansen, who is also assistant coach of the national side, said.

"He is big, skates well, has good hands and wants to get better. I'm not looking for him to be our top offensive d-man, but he will play significant minutes for the Giants next season.

"I expect him to play a smart simple game and be a big part of our defensive core."

I expect him to be big part of why we win, not the sole reason why we win - my goal is for him to be a better player next March than he is in September.

Doug Christiansen, Belfast Giants

The Giants originally brought Phillips to Belfast from the Hull Stingrays and general manager Todd Kelman knows what he is capable of doing for the Giants next season.

"When Davey came to us in 2008, he was only 21-years-old and very raw - over the course of the season, I saw him go from our fifth defenceman in the depth chart to the top defenceman on the team," Kelman said.

"He was our best penalty killer, he scored some huge goals for us, and played his way into being our go-to guy on defence in every situation.

"I am extremely excited to get Davey back - he was a real fan favourite in Belfast when he was here the first time around and I know our supporters will be excited to have him back in a Giants jersey once again."

Phillips will wear the number 13 on his return - the same number he wore last time around, when he won two titles with the Giants during the 2008/09 season.

Since then, he's played two seasons in the US - first in the American Hockey League, mostly with the Rockford IceHogs (the top affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks) and then mostly in the East Coast Hockey League.

Last season, Phillips split time between the Elite League's Coventry Blaze and SønderjyskE in the top league in Denmark. In 51 games, he racked up five goals and 21 assists for 26 points.