HabsWorld.net -- 

For the second straight year, the Habs swung a trade before the holiday roster freeze.  They’ve brought back a familiar face, acquiring Phillip Danault from Los Angeles for a second-round pick.  Specifically, the pick is a 2026 selection from Columbus, previously acquired as part of the Patrik Laine deal in the 2024 offseason.

Danault is certainly familiar with the team and market.  The Victoriaville native spent parts of six seasons with the Canadiens from 2015 through 2021 before departing to the Kings in free agency.  At the time, he was hoping to get a bigger offensive role than he had in Montreal.

For the first few years with them, Danault got his wish.  He logged over 18 minutes per game in his first three seasons, notching between 47 and 54 points along the way while getting some power play usage.

But his production tailed off a bit last season.  While he still managed to collect 35 assists, he had just eight goals in 80 games before having a strong playoff performance against Edmonton where he had eight points in their first-round exit.

Unfortunately for Danault and the Kings, his production has completely nosedived in 2025-26.  Through 30 games, he’s still looking for his first goal while he has managed to collect just five assists.  His defensive metrics are still above-average which earned him a long leash with head coach Jim Hiller as he’s still logging more than 16 minutes per game despite the struggles.

At first glance, it’s hard to see how Danault could take on a bigger role with the Habs.  In theory, they could use him to help shelter Ivan Demidov on the second line but that would mean taking Oliver Kapanen off that trio and the two youngsters have shown some chemistry.  If that’s not on the table, Danault would likely be anchoring the third line which is the role he was clearly unhappy with in Los Angeles.

Despite the offensive struggles, it’s clear why the Canadiens had interest in him.  Their centre depth remains spotty at best even with Kapanen emerging as a legitimate player.  Danault helps on that front, especially at the faceoff dot where the Habs are a little below average in that regard.  He should also help on the penalty kill, an area where the Habs have struggled to a success rate of just 77.3%.  Even if he’s not producing much offensively, the 32-year-old can still have an impact on this team.

There is a steep financial hit with this move, however.  Danault is signed for this season and next at a $5.5 million cap charge with Montreal taking that on in full.  Even after sending Jared Davidson back to Laval (a move that hasn’t been officially announced yet), they’re still over the cap so a second demotion needs to be made by 5 PM ET today or someone will be going onto LTIR which is what they wanted to avoid when they gave up a draft pick to move the final year of Carey Price’s contract.

Looking ahead, the Habs now have a little over $90 million on the books for 2026-27 after factoring in new extensions for Lane Hutson and Mike Matheson.  They still have to re-sign RFAs Kirby Dach and Zach Bolduc while Laine is the UFA of some significance.  There’s enough money to do that but Danault’s addition will likely limit what else they can do.  On the other hand, he’ll give this group a boost as they look to get back to the playoffs for the second straight season.