Who would you rather? Danault vs Domi

[Positive Vibes]

I see that there's now a third option in the poll.

We're still a 24th place team. Let's not make third liners untouchable.

And if the Kraken pull a Vegas, we'll soon be a 25th place team. I'd hope something is done before that happens.

agreed

 

[Kents polished head]

The accurate answer is Danault. As much as I'm not a fan of his comments at the end of the season and as much as I think it would be stupid to pay him north of 5.5M on the long term, the focus should be on grooming Suzuki and Kotkaniemi to be the driving forces of our first two lines. And to do so, you want to have a veteran who can handle some tougher matchups.

Ideally next season Kotkaniemi gets mainly exploitation matchups, while Danault and Suzuki split up the tougher assignments.

Play Suzuki with Drouin and Gallagher. Kotkaniemi should play with Armia and an offensive winger we acquire this summer. Danault, Tatar and Lehkonen can play some tougher minutes here and there.

One guy I'd try and get is Granlund. Finns have great chemestry together, Granlund would be cheaper after a tough season. He's still young. And even if he's small he would have tons of room to manoeuvre with Armia and Kotkaniemi.

As for Domi, I think I would actually do a one on one for Nikita Zadorov if Colorado is interested. Chiarot, Weber, Zadorov, Petry and Romanov on the same D is probably the most intimidating D in the league. And every single one of these guys are decent skaters for their size.

 

[Kimota]

Domi is done, that's it. Over and out and I don't want to see him anymore. Danault is no talent juggernaut but you keep guys like that in your line up. Hardworker, not a whiner and he sacrifice himself out there. Plus he is not devoided of talent. I wouldn't want to give Danault the moon though and if the right offer comes along, you can trade him too.

 

[Treb]

Trade Domi.

Try to re-sign Danault at a good price for a high-end 3C. If not possible:
1. Trade him if we are out of the PO and selling.
2. Lose him in FA if we go on a run.

 

[Tyson]

Leverage them both and ship them both out.

Time to raise the bar a bit and build a better team.

 

[Scriptor]

Now it's about fans in "true" hockey markets. Jeez, the level of hyperbole just keeps getting ramped up.

We can have a difference of opinion in a hockey market without resorting to these exceptionalism-type epithets.

There are fans in non-hockey markets who are just as knowledgeable if not more.

Just cause we're having a difference of opinion on one player doesn't make anyone a pariah.

We can have a difference of opinion about a player we like over another player but, this thread was founded on gross over-exaggeration, stacking everything against one player in the proposed question.

It's like asking, "You have a choice between two players. One, Domi, is a flawed but oh so loveable human being and, the other, Danault, is the anti-christ. Who would you choose?"

It's ridiculous set-ups like these that raises the level of hyperbole and takes away any serious discussion.

 

[Moose Head]

I’d like to keep both if they are willing to accept these roles:

- Danault, if he can be content being this teams Carbo or Jarvis.
- Domi if he can accept a top two line winger role, and playing center in a pinch.

 

[Scriptor]

I believe the last 12 games are an indication of how they intend to roll the lines. kk and Suziki as 1/2. No conspiracy here. Having cost protected guys allows us to pay Danault.

It would crazy to trade a shut down top 9 C right now that has a history of centering one of the best even strength lines in the league. We would have to literally start the search for his replacement the day after we moved him, it would become our number one need and be insanely difficult to fill.

But you want to move him so let me know who is going to come in and replace him for significantly less money? Where is this young shut down centre that is going to play for cheap and cost zero assets?

There's always the entirely ridiculous argument that usually pops up regarding Danault:

Come on, if he had useless wingers that were defensive sieves, he wouldn't be any good at even strength.

Why not use that argument the same way some posters use the argument that Danault wouldn't produce 50+ points if he wasn't playing with good offensive players, omitting to underline the limited PP time and the D-zone starts VS O-zone stars, as well as the shutdown role against the opponents' best players?

These posters are also some that downplay Tatar and Gallagher because they aren't elite talents but, when they are playing with Tatar, they are God sends that carry a miserable player like Danault.

Other posters that say the team just needs to find other good wingers to keep Danault playing an equally effective role as a 3rd line C are dead on. Doing so would place Danrult's line in a secondary scoring role on top of their shutdown role as a two-way line, all while providing Suzuki and Kotkaniemi with talented wingers for them to excel in a more offensive role than the 3rd line.

 

[Scriptor]

I’d like to keep both if they are willing to accept these roles:

- Danault, if he can be content being this teams Carbo or Jarvis.
- Domi if he can accept a top two line winger role, and playing center in a pinch.

If you can guarantee that Domi plays better than he has at wing once he accepts that role, I'm all for it.

As for Danault, pay him 5M for that role and I'm sure he accepts it. In the end, if he can get 5.5M on the open market, VS 5M here, I doubt he leaves home for the difference. Danault is a family man and taking his kids away from proximity to his parents would weigh more heavily than .5M difference elsewhere.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Both if they stop whining about the role the coach wants them to play.

Can we add a vote to keep both? Curious to see how many would vote for that. Sometimes, we are to hyper to make trades. This might be the case in this situations.

Danault is the type we need... especially with the 20 and 21 year old centers next year. However, Domi has skill/skating so if you trade him, we better get a solid return

 

[Habs Halifax]

I’d like to keep both if they are willing to accept these roles:

- Danault, if he can be content being this teams Carbo or Jarvis.
- Domi if he can accept a top two line winger role, and playing center in a pinch.

Agreed. We actually need them both. Domi may be just as talented as Hall and I think Domi comes into next year pissed off and on a mission. Put him on KK's wing

 

[WeThreeKings]

Voted to trade them both.

Domi isn't valuable playing 3C behind two centers who need offensive minutes.
Danault doesn't want to play 3C, so he is going to walk or command too much money/eat minutes and opportunities from Suzuki/KK

Get a 3C who knows and accepts his role.

 

[Treb]

Agreed. We actually need them both. Domi may be just as talented as Hall and I think Domi comes into next year pissed off and on a mission. Put him on KK's wing

Why do we need 3 5-ish million $ LW? Trade Domi, Drouin or Tatar for a RW.

 

[Scriptor]

Im not trading Danault for leftovers neither. It's not like i asked for him to be traded before his bad comment. Maybe the last 12 games are a good indication but , Julien changed the line because the Danault line was doing absolute f*** all. Kotkaniemi was solo playing on the top 6 also.

It's not crazy to trade Danault if you have the return you want for. It's easy to find a good 3c with defensive aspect than a top 6 center with offensive aspect.

Danault is an okay 2C and one of the better 3Cs in the league. His shutdown ability is top-end. Replacing danault in that role is not a cinch -- far from it. That said, if the return is good enough, any Hab is worth trading. I have no problem trading both Domi AND Danault if the return is worthwhile. I'd slot Poehling in as a potential 3rd line C under that scenario and let Evans and him battle it out.

 

[bobholly39]

I know this is going to sound like a cop-out - but I can't really answer this without understanding what's going on behind closed doors. We probably only ever hear about ~10% in the public what's really going on.

1. Does Domi really only want to play center, and refuse to play winger? Because - KK/Suzuki are still young and might stumble - if they do, I like having Domi who can slot in. If they both do great - I like the versatility of an offensive player like Domi able to play as a winger.
2. What does Danault really want? His comments were super vague. Is it just $$? Does he want offensive wingers? A specific role? I think he's a perfect top 9C, who can play anywhere from #1 to #3 center minutes depending on game situations. Extremely valuable. I'm fine paying him a good salary for that too, if that's his end-goal. But if he's truly upset about Suzuki/Kotka above him, that's bad or team morale.
3. Then - there's trade value. In a vacuum I get the sense they're probably close in value. Slight edge to Danault maybe, but i could also see it be other way. That's a big component. If i'm talking to GM's and see there's a ton of interest for Danault and the return could be very high - maybe I consider trading him more easily. Same for Domi.

So - I feel as though there's a ton of information known behind closed doors that we can only speculate on as fans. I think based on those things, it's easy to make a choice, but from the outside in I can only guess.

So i'll guess that Danault can be talked down and accept his role as a top ~9C, but paid well - and choose to keep him in that role and trade Domi.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Why do we need 3 5-ish million $ LW? Trade Domi, Drouin or Tatar for a RW.

If that deal is there yeah but don't try to force things to quickly. We should not be in a panic to trade Domi and especially not Danault. I'm open to all kinds of options as long as the trade fits and we get solid trade value

 

[Habs Halifax]

I know this is going to sound like a cop-out - but I can't really answer this without understanding what's going on behind closed doors. We probably only ever hear about ~10% in the public what's really going on.

1. Does Domi really only want to play center, and refuse to play winger? Because - KK/Suzuki are still young and might stumble - if they do, I like having Domi who can slot in. If they both do great - I like the versatility of an offensive player like Domi able to play as a winger.
2. What does Danault really want? His comments were super vague. Is it just $$? Does he want offensive wingers? A specific role? I think he's a perfect top 9C, who can play anywhere from #1 to #3 center minutes depending on game situations. Extremely valuable. I'm fine paying him a good salary for that too, if that's his end-goal. But if he's truly upset about Suzuki/Kotka above him, that's bad or team morale.
3. Then - there's trade value. In a vacuum I get the sense they're probably close in value. Slight edge to Danault maybe, but i could also see it be other way. That's a big component. If i'm talking to GM's and see there's a ton of interest for Danault and the return could be very high - maybe I consider trading him more easily. Same for Domi.

So - I feel as though there's a ton of information known behind closed doors that we can only speculate on as fans. I think based on those things, it's easy to make a choice, but from the outside in I can only guess.

So i'll guess that Danault can be talked down and accept his role as a top ~9C, but paid well - and choose to keep him in that role and trade Domi.

Great post! 100% agree... Most of us are acting like GM's in the basement with little insider knowledge. It's nice to talk hockey and what we should or would get in trades for these two but we need to be careful with acting like we know facts at play behind the scenes

 

[bobholly39]

I don't understand the people voting "trade them both".

Kotka looked like dogshit last season. Yes he played great in the play-ins - but not in the season. Is he even 20 years old yet? What if he sucks again this year, and next year? What if this play-in was just a mirage, and he never puts it together? I like Kotka - but we're banking an often lot on such a small sample size. Are we really going to destroy all of our center depth so soon just for the hell of it?

Maybe once we'd be 100% confident both Suzuki/Kotka are legitimate top 2 centers at the NHL level moving forward we can trade both Danault and Domi - but it's too soon to make that assessment. And if we trade them both too soon and one of Kotka/Suzuki doesn't pan out - we're back in the hellhole of the past 15 years with no centers in the organization.

 

[Habs Icing]

I don't understand the people voting "trade them both".

Kotka looked like dogshit last season. Yes he played great in the play-ins - but not in the season. Is he even 20 years old yet? What if he sucks again this year, and next year? What if this play-in was just a mirage, and he never puts it together? I like Kotka - but we're banking an often lot on such a small sample size. Are we really going to destroy all of our center depth so soon just for the hell of it?

Maybe once we'd be 100% confident both Suzuki/Kotka are legitimate top 2 centers at the NHL level moving forward we can trade both Danault and Domi - but it's too soon to make that assessment. And if we trade them both too soon and one of Kotka/Suzuki doesn't pan out - we're back in the hellhole of the past 15 years with no centers in the organization.

I agree with your post except for the fact that we have two more years to decide when it comes to Domi. He's an RFA. With Danault, it's tricky. He has one year left on his contract. Soon, real soon, MB has to find out Danault's bottom line and then he has to decide whether he can live with it. If he can't live with it he has to arrange a Patches trade where Danault re-signs with the other team. MB really likes Danault and I think he'll bend over for him, the same way he did for Price. And my instincts tell me Danult is looking for a contract north of 6.5 million. He has played first line center for this lottery team for three years and I think that has gone to his head.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I agree with your post except for the fact that we have two more years to decide when it comes to Domi. He's an RFA. With Danault, it's tricky. He has one year left on his contract. Soon, real soon, MB has to find out Danault's bottom line and then he has to decide whether he can live with it. If he can't live with it he has to arrange a Patches trade where Danault re-signs with the other team. MB really likes Danault and I think he'll bend over for him, the same way he did for Price. And my instincts tell me Danult is looking for a contract north of 6.5 million. He has played first line center for this lottery team for three years and I think that has gone to his head.

It's not that complicated... All our pending UFA's can be asked what they want here soon before the next season starts. Habs fans won't get that info but our GM will. Then you go from there depending on what their demands are.

$6.5M is my high point with Danault, Petry, Gallagher, Tatar. Preferably, I'd like to sign all of them for $6M. If they are all on board with the Habs for the now and the future, I'd work out deals with some of them so we sign after the expansion draft.

 

[OnTheRun]

Domi can gtfo for all I care and if Danault want unchallenged top6 duty he can gtfo too.

Neither are cornerstone of a franchise and shouldn't be treated as such, if they're unhappy or have silly demands, you move them like any other assets.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I don't understand the people voting "trade them both".

Because you're still deluded into thinking this team can be patched up to performance level, when it actually needs to be overhauled.

 

[Scriptor]

I agree with your post except for the fact that we have two more years to decide when it comes to Domi. He's an RFA. With Danault, it's tricky. He has one year left on his contract. Soon, real soon, MB has to find out Danault's bottom line and then he has to decide whether he can live with it. If he can't live with it he has to arrange a Patches trade where Danault re-signs with the other team. MB really likes Danault and I think he'll bend over for him, the same way he did for Price. And my instincts tell me Danult is looking for a contract north of 6.5 million. He has played first line center for this lottery team for three years and I think that has gone to his head.

That's ridiculous. Seriously.

 

[Vachon23]

Keep Danault and it’s not even close. He’s the perfect 3C behind 2 young Center who can take all the defensive mission.

 

[Treb]

Because you're still deluded into thinking this team can be patched up to performance level, when it actually needs to be overhauled.

We need a top3 LD and a legit top6 right winger, maybe some size in the bottom 6.