The Montreal Canadiens' GM and coach spoke about their team's newest acquisition, and one thing is clear: Phillip Danault's role will be defensive-first and foremost.
After striking a deal right before the Christmas roster freeze, Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes met the media at the Bell Centre on Saturday morning and spoke at length about his latest acquisition, Phillip Danault. The executive explained the team felt like it needed more experience at this stage of the season, not only in general, but because of all the injuries the group is currently carrying.
While the fact that Danault has played in the market before may be an advantage for him, it didn’t play a role in the organization’s decision to acquire him. The move was solely motivated by his play, although Hughes did say:
We believe that the season he’s having right now isn't really reflective of his potential.- Hughes on Danault's season so far.
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That goes without saying, because if that had been the case, it’s improbable that he would have made the trade. As for what he had to send to get Danault, Hughes explained that while he doesn’t know what the Los Angeles Kings might have tried to obtain from other teams, his negotiations with them were always about sending a future asset the other way, he wasn’t ready to sacrifice a roster player to get the centerman as the aim was to make his own team deeper.
While Hughes reached out to Ken Holland as soon as he read that Danault might be traded, all he did was ask him to call him if he decided to do it. He did, and things moved quickly near the wire.
To make the maths work, the Canadiens moved Kirby Dach and Kaiden Guhle to LTIR for now, but when they are ready to return, John Sedgwick will need to work his magic again to do the salary cap gymnastics.
When it was pointed out that his newest acquisition might take some of the young players’ ice time, Hughes explained that the team would have to strike the right balance between the present and the future. Furthermore, he felt his defensive play could help the kids; there’s a lot they could learn from the newcomer.
The GM highlighted that his team not only needed a left-handed center but also that having a player who has often been tasked with taking on the other team’s best players was a plus.
Hughes added that if there’s another deal that he feels he needs to make, he still has the draft capital necessary to do it. As for the money aspect, he said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If something comes up, we’ll make it work.”
When it was the coach’s turn to speak, the media sought information on how the newly acquired center would be deployed for the Canadiens, but Martin St-Louis remained vague, though he said Danault would play a defensive role. Meaning that as things stand, there is no plan to make the 32-year-old veteran step into Oliver Kapanen’s role on the second line.
The coach explained that, for him, Kapanen is a 200-foot center, not an offensive one, but that he doesn’t expect Kapanen's role to change. This is excellent news in the grand scheme of things since the Finn needs to get as much experience as possible, given his age and the fact that he should be around for longer than Danault.
At the time of speaking to the media, the bench boss had not yet spoken with Danault; he had only texted him to begin getting to know the person behind the hockey player. He added that he’s not planning too much since things could happen on the ice that would come and throw a spanner in the works.
Danault is expected to join his new (and old) team in Boston on Monday, but the team is scheduled to have a day off then after the weekend’s back-to-back. Still, he’ll be there for the Tuesday morning skate, and judging by what St-Louis and Hughes said, I would be surprised if he didn’t land on the fourth line and the penalty kill to start with. He’s played with Gallagher in the past, and who knows, that might help the veteran winger as well.
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