There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the Los Angeles Kings and center Phillip Danault regarding the trade market.

He hasn’t had the start to this season that he and the team would’ve wanted. In 28 games this season, Danault has not scored a goal and has just five assists, his last one coming in the Kings’ 6-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

On the latest episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman touched on the handful of reports indicating that teams have inquired about the Kings’ Danault. 

“There were some reports that he could be on the trade market, and I could see this being a case where both sides would want it to happen,” Friedman said.

“There’s only two ways to look at this,” Friedman added. “As if Father Time… has finally gotten to Phillip Danault, or his runway in LA is over.”

Danault is 32 years old, playing in his 13th NHL campaign. With that, he’s in his fifth season with the Kings.

In previous seasons in Los Angeles, Danault has recorded at least 40 points. Last year was his lowest total (43 points) since 2017-18, when he only played 52 games for the Montreal Canadiens (25 points).

Ex-Canadiens Center Having Tough Start To Season This former Canadiens forward is having a slow start to the new season.

While he’ll likely break the ice eventually in terms of putting the puck in the net, his current scoring pace for this season is zero goals and 15 assists on the year.

With that offensive contribution, even for a two-way center, it’s hard to justify the $5.5 million cap hit that he carries. He has one more season left on that deal after this campaign.

Luckily for GM Ken Holland and the Kings, if the team were looking to trade away Danault, the thin trade market, especially for middle-six centers, could get them a trade partner. 

Even with the contract he holds, some team out there that isn’t on Danault’s 10-team no-trade list could be interested in acquiring him for the right price.

However, unless his play picks up, the Kings likely won’t get anything substantial back with his cap hit. In addition, Los Angeles could not offer to retain some of Danault’s contract because all three of their retention spots have been filled.

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