Kings Danault Continues to Shine in Third Season

Phillip Danault is in his third year on the Kings roster and 12th year in the league. He's the alternative captain of the Kings, and he's been an incredible success story out of free agency. Looking back at the last decade, there might not be a better free-agency signing for the LA Kings.

Big names always come at a price, regarding a trade that is. To take that example to its limits, see the Mike Richards trade: Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmons, and a second-round pick for the former Flyers captain. An example more recent? Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, Alex Iafallo, and a second-round pick for Pierre Luc Dubois.

Both players were in their mid-20s when they were picked up. Both of these players had impact roles in their previous organizations. Most polarizing was the historical play of Mike Richards and the implications he played in the downfall of GM Dean Lombardi and a potential dynasty in Los Angeles.

Both GMs, Dean Lombardi and Rob Blake made these acquisitions with their futures at stake. Very rarely do big names come without price or implications.

In the case of Danault, he came from a Cinderella Stanley Cup Final run with the Montreal Canadiens, playing 1C/2C minutes as a shutdown center flanked by Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher. He was a defensive specialist who had excellent primary assist metrics.

He never broke through a total of 13 goals during his time in Montreal (he hit the mark twice); he also helped his 13-goal total in 2019-20 by getting a late-season hat trick against Vegas. He was a steady 40-50 point presence in Montreal without considerable power play time.

The Canadiens passed on resigning Danault and the Kings signed him under Rob Blake's swift stroke in one of the best free-agent acquisitions in the entire league.

"The 28-year-old Danault has never been an offensive force, but his defense has put him in the conversation for the Selke Trophy over the past few seasons. He also has won 54% of his faceoffs in his career". 

Greg Wyshynski, ESPN Jul 28, 2021

The 5.5 AAV over six seasons for a 28-year-old was criticized as a potential albatross contract for a non-offensive producer. However, Danault came onto the Los Angeles hockey scene with gusto. He was given much more time on the power play and slotted behind a Hall of Fame 2-way player in Anze Kopitar.

He obliterated his career-high goal total with 27 in his first year in LA. Remarkably, only two out of the 27 came from the power play. He had massive second-half success with linemate Trevor Moore, who started to round out his game/potential himself.

Danault followed up his first-year goal-shattering with a second year of breaking his career-high point total in 2022-23. His 18 goals were a drop-off but still higher than during his days in Montreal. The Kings have made the playoffs in every year that Danault has been on the roster; he's been a difference-maker.

In the current season, he's been doing the same thing he's done in each of his two seasons in LA. In 48 games, he has 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points as a +3. He will likely finish again in the high 40 to low 50-point total while being stellar defensively for this Kings squad.

He's been a horse and a catalyst to get the rest of the team going. He's been the most consistent Kings center on the roster. He's an underrated component to the breakout status of Trevor Moore, who should push past 30 goals this season. He occasionally drops the mitts when needed and wears the 'A' for a reason.

In 2023-24: The Fiala-Danault-Moore line ranks fifth in the entire NHL in xGoals with lines played together for over 300 minutes.

In 2022-23: The Arvidsson-Danault-Moore line ranked seventh in the entire NHL in xGoals with lines played together for over 500 minutes.

In 2021-22: The Arvidsson-Danault-Moore line ranked sixth in the entire NHL in xGoals with lines played together for over 400 minutes.

Each season, except the 2022-23 season (in which the Byfield-Kopitar-Kempe line had superior advanced stats in sizably fewer minutes: 8th compared to 11th best in the league), whatever line Danault holds long-term became the Kings best line, and one of the best offensive driving lines in the entire league.

Danault isn't going to get any younger, but his time in LA has been nothing short of spectacular, given the outlook on the initial pickup. He's delivered and more while continuing to be an underrated leader and catalyst for this club.