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

[johnjm22]

Would have much rather had Buchnevich or Reinhart for this money. I understand the importance of defensive play, but the Kings have had a serious scoring problem for a bit. Over the past 3 seasons, the Kings only beat out Detroit and Anaheim in Gf/GP. Signing a 28 year old center who has a career .5 PPG and whose season high in goals is 13 to a six year deal at 5.5 million does not seem like the best decision for a team in dire need of scoring.

I don't like the contract, but Danault is exactly what the Kings need.

Designating duties to a specialist like him will improve the Kings overall offense.

The Kings biggest issue has been ES production, and people are really underrating Danault in that area. Him and AK produce at about the same rate at even strength.

 

[Telos]

He will likely start on the 2nd line and when the prospects take a step he will give us one of the best third lines in the league. He makes a good Kopitar replacement for Brown as he shifts to a bottom 6 role as well. I’m excited to get this season going.

 

[Little Psycho]

6 years and 5.5 mil is a lot for a guy with 13 career high goals in a season.


He better be a f***ing beast defensively

According to MacKinnon and Stone, he's the most difficult center to play against or something along those lines.

 

[lexlavender]

I see this as a move FOR our prospects. Last year the kids were getting clobbered by experienced vets. Signing a good defensive center allows them to have time and space to grow into their roles. Not to mention that a player like Danault is still valuable as a depth centermen once our center prospects mature. I think it's an ok deal.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Not disagreeing with you just saying how bad our Organization have been at scoring. But Gonna be an interesting year that's for sure.

I agree with you as well. I'm just glad that the 2 additions are both 28 and both very good NHL players and not the AA type of additions. Arvidsson and Danault would be key players on all 32 teams.
I think the scoring will come 'by committee' and these 2 will help with that. I'll take 24 (hopeful) goals from Arvidsson and 12 from Danault and seeing them help their linemates score a few more,
than the previous players in their positions. Danault is a good playmaker and may well have success if they put him 2C at first. Would rather have him 2C than a 19 yr old Byfield or put that on Gabe again.
Maybe Gabe could play RW 2 with Danault and have more success...Danault is great on faceoffs. When Byfield can take 2nd center, slot Danault to 3rd center. All good.

Best Summer for Kings in years. Could have been better? Maybe. And it's not over.

 

[Fishhead]

copied from other thread:

5.5 AAV is not bad at all for a 40-50 point guy with his level of defense. He'll be 34 at the end, so that's not great but not terrible either. From a pure cap standpoint, I don't hate it. How's that for noncommittal?

Put it this way, when Stoll signed his first Kings deal it was very close to the cap percentage as this one, and they are pretty comparable. It does take away a spot so I think moving some of our center prospects for defense becomes far more likely now, which I view as a positive. We know now if Byfield makes the team it wasn't handed to him, and I think it also sends a similar message to the other prospects about how they need to take it to the next level to earn their way up.

I'd like to see the contract structure before judging too much, if a lot of the salary is paid up front, he would be easier to move later if a player forces his way up.

 

[Gjwrams]

Separate the two things folks...

The player: Top-end two way center that shuts down opponents. A faceoff winning machine and our new Jared Stoll. What's not to like?

The contract: 6 years...two more than we most would like. Cap 1.5 mil more than we would like, but it's a UFA. You will ALWAYS pay a premium.

Overall, I am good with the signing, it makes us better now, keeps out assets for the LHD that comes sooner (during the offseason) or later.

 

[crassbonanza]

Landeskog plays a physical power forward game that typically doesn’t age well and has overinflated numbers form playing with Mack and rantanen

Landeskog put up 22 goals and 52 points in his rookie season, 2 years before MacKinnon was even drafted. Saying that all of his scoring can solely be attributed to the other Mack/Rants is lazy analysis and ignores what he provides to help their scoring. If you look at the WOWY numbers you can see that Rants and Macks play is seriously affected when they are without Landy. That pair is actually have a sub 50% xGF% over the past 3 years without him.

 

[Reclamation Project]

I think the biggest winner in this trade besides Kopitar is Vilardi. Let him play a full season at 3C and develop as a player.

 

[ru4reals]

I agree with you as well. I'm just glad that the 2 additions are both 28 and both very good NHL players and not the AA type of additions. Arvidsson and Danault would be key players on all 32 teams.
I think the scoring will come 'by committee' and these 2 will help with that. I'll take 24 (hopeful) goals from Arvidsson and 12 from Danault and seeing them help their linemates score a few more,
than the previous players in their positions. Danault is a good playmaker and may well have success if they put him 2C at first. Would rather have him 2C than a 19 yr old Byfield or put that on Gabe again.
Maybe Gabe could play RW 2 with Danault and have more success...Danault is great on faceoffs. When Byfield can take 2nd center, slot Danault to 3rd center. All good.

Best Summer for Kings in years. Could have been better? Maybe. And it's not over.

Great points that's why I'm more and more warming up to the deals and signings. Honestly just me, I think we're still going to miss the playoffs, just outside looking in. Still not enough scoring unless one of the kids go crazy. But again great points.

 

[BamBam1031]

Damn, that's a lot of years for a 3C. Will probably love him Years 1-4, not so much 5-6.

 

[jfc64]

Centre Island have industrialized countries problems.

Edit: Now, there you have your comparative advantage to most teams (third centre spot).

 

[JTeller97]

I think the biggest winner in this trade besides Kopitar is Vilardi. Let him play a full season at 3C and develop as a player.

I think this deal pretty much closes the door on Vilardi as a center. QB should be the 3c with lots of favorable matchups.

 

[BigKing]

Very similar cap percentage as the Handzus signing except Zeus was a tad older and also coming off an ACL tear while Danault is coming off a bit of a coming-out-party for his work in the recent playoffs.

Actually, the $5.5MM is under 7% of the current cap so Zeus's was higher. So this contract is not as bad cap wise but it lingers for two additional years.

 

[johnjm22]

Usually when you sign UFA's in their late 20's to long term contracts it turns into a bust.

This one probably will as well. He'll probably be good for us for a few years, then turn into boat anchor contract.

I do love the player though.

 

[BringTheReign]

I think I’ll like this contract more when the cap starts going up again. The Handzus comparison as a percentage of the cap also makes me feel better.

 

[YP44]

Damn, that's a lot of years for a 3C. Will probably love him Years 1-4, not so much 5-6.

think he will be 2C for first 2 years and then fallback into Stoll's roll.

 

[Gjwrams]

Damn, that's a lot of years for a 3C. Will probably love him Years 1-4, not so much 5-6.

Not gonna worry about years 5-6. Shit I'll probably be dead by then. He's all you folks problem then!

 

[bland]

Shocked he signed here, but its a good contract for both the player and the team. Not sure why so many are concerned about 6 x 5.5, its actually reasonable for an impact player in the silly season.

This adds grit, responsibility, favorable matchups, improves the penalty kill and adds a player in his prime with a competitive nature who has a skill set absent on the roster and in the prospect list.

It also puts the Kings in position to move a valued center or two to add a high end impact player at the position of their choosing.

Been a damn good week to be a Kings fan.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[crassbonanza]

I don't like the contract, but Danault is exactly what the Kings need.

Designating duties to a specialist like him will improve the Kings overall offense.

The Kings biggest issue has been ES production, and people are really underrating Danault in that area. Him and AK produce at about the same rate at even strength.

I understand that we are attempting to go the Bergeron route with Kopitar, but the Kings don't have a Pastrnak/Marchand right now. The fact that Danault only scored at even strength does not make this more attractive in my opinion. He spent a combined 125 minutes on the powerplay over the past 2 seasons and only scored 1 goal, I would hope for a bit more production for the amount he is being payed. Especially when scoring is a primary problem for us.

 

[Martyros]

5.5 mil seems right for a low end 2nd line + defensive specialist. He wanted to have a more offensive role....perhaps 'Kings' and 'offense' don't go together but he will get that opportunity here....maybe he'll become a very good playmaker. Who knows? No reason to take a shit on this contract right now. Panic next year when he puts up 5 points in 82 games and we're in the bottom in GF and GA.

 

[Piston]

Absolutely love the deal. He shut down Matthews, Stone and Point in the playoffs. May be in the conversation for best defensive centerman in the game. Is underrated offensively. Brings much needed character into the locker room. To get someone of this caliber, you are going to have to over pay, and this was not huge over payment by any means. Kopitar now has a shot for the all time points record for the Kings. I say slap an 'A' right on PD jersey and point to him as the example for the kids to follow. Great signing!

 

[MBH]

So who are the centers?
How the where does that leave Byfield, Turcotte, Vilardi, Kupari, JAD, yada yada yada.

How does adding Arvidsson and Danault address the glaring need at defense?

 

[kingsboy11]

I think the deal is 1-2 years too long, but those last 2 years probably won't mean as much and especially if the cap starts to go back up. I was kind of lukewarm on the thought of Danault when we were rumored to be interested in him, but it makes a lot of sense to get a veteran center who can play all situations and is a defensive wizard. It looks like both Blake and McLellan realized that Vilardi wasn't quite ready to handle all the responsibility last year and took action to fix that. I think Danault is going to help us out massively in this division, especially against Vegas.

I think my only concern still is that goal scoring will still be an issue. If Danault get back to 50 points then that's great, but I'm not holding my breath. Arvidsson will be a big help, but the goal scoring has got to come from other players not named Kopitar.