Value of: Phillip Danault

[Bouboumaster]

I'd take him back on the Habs for sure

2025 Habs 1st (top 10 protected) + other picks

 

[pth2]

I'd take him back on the Habs for sure

2025 Habs 1st (top 10 protected) + other picks

Take him back, sure.

Give up prime assets like a 1st? Nope.

 

[blankall]

Defensemen don't actually develop later. Teams just have half as many roster spots available for them so they tend to break into the NHL later.

Even if you want to bet that Danault's skills won't wane as he approaches his mid 30s, he's not worth anything close to the 11th overall pick and a decent prospect. He might be worth a 3rd rounder.

Defencemen often do develop later. It often takes longer to learn the game from a defensive perspective. Many higher end defencemen were given roster spots, were not as good for a while, and then became top pairing/franchise players post 30. That never happens with forwards.

I agree. He's not worth the 11th overall plus. I do think that Danault remains an effective player that would garner a lot of interest though.

 

[jfhabs]

I think this was bergevin's biggest weakness. I never saw a GM for the Habs unable to retain such key free agents.

Markov, radulov, and danault lost for nothing and no reasonable plan for replacements other than hail marys.

Considering this meant signing Alzner and Hoffman... Probably the worst summer GM.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

Not sure how many times it needs to be said, the Leafs problem is not and has not been defense for years and years. Their problem is OFFENSE. They literally just held the Bruins to 4 total goals in the final 3 elimination games. Meanwhile, the Leafs haven't scored more than 2 goals in a playoff game in like 3 playoff series.

The Leafs lost because their PP was 4% and their goalscoring was not found. Their defense has been at the bottom of the league for offensive results for several years. They need puck movers, PP qb, and offensive dmen as their biggest needs.

Danault is tripling down on what is not working.

Matthew’s can’t score if he’s stuck trying to shut t oppositions top guys. Speaks for itself mate

I think this was bergevin's biggest weakness. I never saw a GM for the Habs unable to retain such key free agents.

Markov, radulov, and danault lost for nothing and no reasonable plan for replacements other than hail marys.

I Agree 100%

Talk about hyperbole. He had 47 points in 78 games last season. That's right where he's been his whole career. If he gets 4 more points in the season he goes from cap dump to highly sought after asset again?

Danault is a solid depth center who's greatest strength is his elite defensive play.

He’s the kind of guy you win with in the playoffs

 

[HockeyVirus]

I've always wondered if Toronto fans actually watch hockey, or just eat up what bought and paid for journalists say. I have my answer

Goes to show you no amount of doing, stats backing it up, and award recognition can make a hater see through their bias

Matthew’s can’t score if he’s stuck trying to shut t oppositions top guys. Speaks for itself mate

And yet he put up the most goals in 30 years doing exactly that. Generational.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

Goes to show you no amount of doing, stats backing it up, and award recognition can make a hater see through their bias



And yet he put up the most goals in 30 years doing exactly that. Generational.

Dude has barely ever gotten past the first round. Let’s not pump those tires too much

 

[HockeyVirus]

Dude has barely ever gotten past the first round. Let’s not pump those tires too much

It's a team sport

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

I think Rosen alone is a fair deal. Rosen projects as a middle six winger with offensive skills

You just described why Rosen alone should not be enough to get him...

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

Defensemen don't actually develop later. Teams just have half as many roster spots available for them so they tend to break into the NHL later.

Even if you want to bet that Danault's skills won't wane as he approaches his mid 30s, he's not worth anything close to the 11th overall pick and a decent prospect. He might be worth a 3rd rounder.

Awful take. Defense and even more pronounced goaltending is a reactive game. It absolutely takes longer to develop how to stop offense than it does to create offense. There is a reason Bedard was one of the worst defensive players in the entire league this year. For the first time ever he is not the best player on the ice 100% of the time. So when the puck is going the other way he has no idea what to do

 

[Legion34]

Letting him go is one thing... Trading for Dvorak and signing Mike Hoffman is the real issue. The 3 first years of the contract were never going to be the issue. Year 3 to 6 is when we'll see if letting him go was very that bad. Still doesn't look too good but we'll see


Your centers are elite defensively? Who ? Matthews and Tavares?

Matthews was a selke finalist. Yavares has become a great checker. Just not an 11 million player

 

[Guitpik]

Kings aren’t trading Danault

 

[biturbo19]

You just described why Rosen alone should not be enough to get him...

Yeah. You don't trade an elite matchup middle-6 Center like Danault on a very good contract, for a guy who "might become a middle-6 winger". That's just not enough.

11 + Rosen might be a little rich...but the original deal did also include a Kings 2nd going back as well. I don't think that's far off at all.


That said...i really don't see why the Kings would want to trade Danault. They're still in some sort of "window" with core guys like Kopitar and Doughty running out of runway. Danault is a big part of the strength of the Kings, being able to ice multiple Selke-level matchup Centers between Danault and Kopitar, and shut things down defensively through the middle of the ice.

If they did put him on the market though...i'd imagine there'd be a lot of teams lining up to make a run at him. He's exactly what any team with playoff aspirations would want to add to push their depth down the middle right over the top.

 

[go4hockey]

So let’s trade a good 2nd line Center to move the laziest player in the league into the top 6. I hate Blake but when I come here the site makes him seem ok.

 

[CanadienShark]

Massive overpayment.

Danault is 31 years old, coming off his worst season as a King and signed for 3 more years at $5.5 million per.

He's a borderline cap dump.

You know he wasn't a Doug Wilson pick, right?

Talk about hyperbole. He had 47 points in 78 games last season. That's right where he's been his whole career. If he gets 4 more points in the season he goes from cap dump to highly sought after asset again?

Danault is a solid depth center who's greatest strength is his elite defensive play.

That's his schtik.

 

[TGWL]

Massive overpayment.

Danault is 31 years old, coming off his worst season as a King and signed for 3 more years at $5.5 million per.

He's a borderline cap dump.

I mean, he scored basically 5/6 points less over 82 games from last season, while doing it with 10'ish less powerplay points. I guess you can say his goal scoring dropped from 2 years ago. But anytime you're talking about a 5 or so points, it could be more down to deployment and powerplay than anything else. Which he saw his pp time reduce over 50%. If anything, he had a better season than 2022-2023 when you throw context into it.

I think if you can get 40+ out of him over the contract, he does enough to justify the money without needing to have the production matching.

 

[GCK]

Yeah that's TSN/Toronto media bias , Matthews is not elite defensively. Shouldn't have been voted for the Seller like he is. He's not bad, but elite, no way. What Matthews is elite at is goal scoring.

Didn't read the last part of your post, didn't realiZe you're a fanboy. Not worth discussing then. There are at least 10 center better defensively, namely the one this thread is about... Byebye

I despise the leafs and love to crap on them but you obviously don’t have clue about Matthews if you don’t think he is an excellent defensive centre

 

[jfhabs]

I despise the leafs and love to crap on them but you obviously don’t have clue about Matthews if you don’t think he is an excellent defensive centre

He's not elite, i don't dispose the Leafs and I know perfectly well what Matthews is. Either your throwing the word elite to loosely or your a fanboy.

 

[GCK]

He's not elite, i don't dispose the Leafs and I know perfectly well what Matthews is. Either your throwing the word elite to loosely or your a fanboy.

I’m a Sens fan so definitely anything but a Matthews fanboy, but I can be objective in evaluating him. He is an exceptional defensive centre, backchecks hard and breaks up many odd man rushes, uses his size to win board battles in his own zone extremely well, great positioning in the D zone and he is excellent at using his stick to disrupt passing lanes. Feel free to disagree but try to objective.

 

[jfhabs]

I’m a Sens fan so definitely anything but a Matthews fanboy, but I can be objective in evaluating him. He is an exceptional defensive centre, backchecks hard and breaks up many odd man rushes, uses his size to win board battles in his own zone extremely well, great positioning in the D zone and he is excellent at using his stick to disrupt passing lanes. Feel free to disagree but try to objective.

So many players do that. Doesn't make them elite. Let's not derail the thread, I'm not overly interested in debating this

 

[Rorschach]

His 3 season in LA he's gotten 51, 54, and 47 points. Pretending that 47 points us some high drop off is pretty disingenuous, especially when he's known more for his 2 way play anyway.

Toronto should be all over him.

Yes, this is the kind of player any team with unfulfilled playoff aspirations should acquire.

 

[wintersej]

I’m annoyed Boston didn’t nab him when he was a UFA. I would throw Ullmark’s name out there as a basis without really having a feel for the plus and minus to either side, but seems like Ullmark would stop that anyway.

 

[KingsHockey24]

I’m annoyed Boston didn’t nab him when he was a UFA. I would throw Ullmark’s name out there as a basis without really having a feel for the plus and minus to either side, but seems like Ullmark would stop that anyway.

Ullmark for Danault makes a lot of sense imo.

 

[BLONG7]

What could we get for him?

Consistent 50+ point two way center.

Would force us to give PLD top six minutes for better or worse. At the very least would let us convert Byfield to center full-time which both he and the organization want.

Consistant 50 + points? Think he did it 3 times in a 8-9 year career.
Good two way player, and good on the dot, but makes 1M too much per season.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Consistant 50 + points? Think he did it 3 times in a 8-9 year career.
Good two way player, and good on the dot, but makes 1M too much per season.

So you're not going to count the two 47 point season's where he didn't even play the full season?

Okay bud.