Confirmed with Link: LA Kings @LAKings Welcome to Los Angeles, Phillip Danault!

Schrute farms

LA Kings: new GM wanted -- inquire within
Jul 7, 2020
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It seems the consensus (except for maybe 1-2 King Fans and a rando other team's fan from a small foreign country) realize that the Kings suck badly.....and most of our plentiful young studs are not ready yet to make meaningful NHL difference on the ice win-loss wise. So Danault greatly improves the team in the immediate sense and that's a big plus. But LT, that 6 years will likely suck....but not horribly suck.

Luckily for the Kings, we have way too many young, stud prospects -- so many we don't know what to do with them. Let alone future picks. So if we have to, then send a good young player and/or pick to take Danault off our hands in the backend (if he falls off the cliff the last 1-3 years).
 

Raccoon Jesus

We were right there
Oct 30, 2008
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I definitely think he could do 30/90 like a few season ago. Danault is definitely the best center he's had behind him. Love Carter and Richards, but Danault is a blackhole of defense.

Yeah prior to this Kopitar was eating the matchups so Carter could run free--like the 2014 Hawks series was Kopitar vs. both Toews AND Hossa which allowed that 70s line and Kane's line to tee the f*** off on each other haha. It's reversed now, with Danault eating some of those hard minutes at the very least. This is still a mediocre team so it's not like Kopitar is going to be allowed to run free as can be, but some softer minutes should prolong his dominance, no reason he can't stay PPG now, for at least another year or two imo.
 

bland

Registered User
Jul 1, 2004
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They asked Kopi to be a 200 foot player really early in his career. Now that they want him to be more aggressive on offense, I don't thing he can. He's more comfortable playing the 200 foot game.
Have you watched him play the last two years?

He hasn't played less defensively tilted hockey since he was a rookie.
 

Fishhead

Registered User
Jul 15, 2003
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The evidence shows me talking hockey and you acting like a child. If you're going to try insult me... at least make it worth my time.

Why you hatin' on Dan? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get an account on this site when you are only 9? He had to persevere, but he pulled it off. That's dedication.

And his COVID knowledge is well evolved for a 4th grader.
 

OldGreatWestern

Registered User
Aug 27, 2008
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They asked Kopi to be a 200 foot player really early in his career. Now that they want him to be more aggressive on offense, I don't thing he can. He's more comfortable playing the 200 foot game.

I agree. The whole thing seems so backward to me. Now that Kopitar is getting older, they should find someone younger who can help with the offensive load, so as Kopitar gets older he can slide back into the lineup and take a more defensive role. You don't want the old guy to have to take on MORE offensive responsibility as he gets older. I think I'm just bitter they didn't figure out how to get this Eichel thing to work.
 

Fishhead

Registered User
Jul 15, 2003
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It bears repeating, Danault's percentage of the cap is almost the same as Stoll's was when he signed in 2008. He was a 2nd/3rd tweener like Danault is, so the salary is about right for his production. I would say Danault is a bit ahead of Stoll. It's market value. Whether we should have signed him or not is different of course.
 

lexlavender

Registered User
Jun 9, 2013
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Reading Danault's comments, it seems like he doesn't understand that he's going to be the 3rd or 4th fiddle in a year or two. His comments on LA's prospects seem more like "yeah I bet they're good!" And less "oh, any one of these players might take my job". Hope I'm wrong and he's happy for his 6 years....
 
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lexlavender

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Jun 9, 2013
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To add, I hope he understands that he's gonna be 3rd line center in a few years, because that's where he should be.
 
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Matt13

Registered User
Jul 9, 2004
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Reading Danault's comments, it seems like he doesn't understand that he's going to be the 3rd or 4th fiddle in a year or two. His comments on LA's prospects seem more like "yeah I bet they're good!" And less "oh, any one of these players might take my job". Hope I'm wrong and he's happy for his 6 years....

he is probably too busy living his best life to read hfboards.
 

kilowatt

the vibes are not immaculate
Jan 1, 2009
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Reading Danault's comments, it seems like he doesn't understand that he's going to be the 3rd or 4th fiddle in a year or two. His comments on LA's prospects seem more like "yeah I bet they're good!" And less "oh, any one of these players might take my job". Hope I'm wrong and he's happy for his 6 years....

Just so everyone's clear here, there's no guarantee that Byfield, Vilardi, or Turcotte are ever as good as Danault, let alone Kopitar. These are elite hockey players. Nothing should be handed to these kids. If they want the 2C role, go take it from him. Same with Brown's 1/2RW position. Dude's gonna be 37, be better than him.

I obviously want our prospects to be the best players to ever play hockey, but we've drafted exactly two ultra-elite players since 2000: Kopitar and Doughty.
 

Lt Dan

F*** your ice cream!
Sep 13, 2018
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youtu.be
It bears repeating, Danault's percentage of the cap is almost the same as Stoll's was when he signed in 2008. He was a 2nd/3rd tweener like Danault is, so the salary is about right for his production. I would say Danault is a bit ahead of Stoll. It's market value. Whether we should have signed him or not is different of course.
Everyone read this three times and then yodel
 
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SFKingshomer

Registered User
Aug 2, 2008
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I haven’t looked at the data but it appeared by watching some games that Suzuki got less defensive responsibility than Danault. That’s huge for a young center and Kopitar had Handzus. I look at Danault like Eric Staal who is a good 2nd but great 3rd. I’m sure Aho benefits from having Staal eat defensive assignments. Staal has been making 6 million for awhile...
 
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SFKingshomer

Registered User
Aug 2, 2008
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Just brutal if true. The Kings needed goals more than any other one thing. I doubt we get more than 75 goals out of Kopitar, Danault, RV, Doughty and Brown combined next year and end up paying $35+M against the cap for that.

You don’t do it just to get more goals out of Kopitar. You do it to ease Byfield, Vilardi, Turcotte, etc. in and they can just play their game without the tough defensive matchups.
 

Piston

Fire Luc and Blake
Jun 14, 2006
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For all you naysayers out there, did you even watch the playoffs this year? Would Montreal have gone to the finals without Danault- absolutely not. In fact, other than their top 4 D-man and arguably Price, PD was their MVP even if he didn't score a lot. The guy was a defensive machine, out on the ice in every difficult situation, winning more than his share of draws, clearing the zone and shutting down the very best players in the league. He's probably going to lead the Kings' forwards in ice time next season as we start taking pressure off Kopitar, and third period leads are not going to suddenly evaporate as we will have two elite defensive players out there protecting one goal leads late in the third period. I'm certainly no expert, but Hockey is much more than just scoring goals (which PD can do given some opportunity). This is a home run for the franchise.
 

The Undertow

Registered User
Jul 28, 2021
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Overpayment maybe, but they've got the cap space. And I'd much rather invest in this sort of player than a flashy scorer.
 

Johnny Utah

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
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Kopitar is a UFA in 3 years and will be 36-37. Will he retire?

The good news in 3 years Danault will be 31 and likely the top center unless Vilardi, Byfield or Turcotte step forward. Even as a number 2 or 3 center at 31 that’s not bad.
 
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