The term all-around player isn’t used very often in the NHL. But with Phillip Danault, that’s the type of player he is – someone who will help his team win on so many levels.
Danault, 28, is the opposite of a one-dimensional player. He doesn’t have to play sheltered minutes. In Montreal, he could play head-to-head against any opponent, which is what the Kings genuinely need in a division featuring the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
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He is better offensively than you might think but he also kills penalties effectively and wins faceoffs. Essentially, Danault does just about everything efficiently and well.
The Kings filled two specific needs on the opening day of free agency Wednesday by adding a versatile No. 2 center in Danault and an experienced left-shot defenseman in longtime Vancouver Canuck Alex Edler.
After years of making moves with tomorrow in mind, the Kings completed two transactions designed to improve their team in the here and now.
Asked if the Kings were pressured into a win-now mode by ownership, general manager Rob Blake answered: “No, that’s our own mandate. We haven’t made it (to the playoffs) the last few years and we want to get better, want to push and have a legitimate chance of getting in there. And these were a couple of steps in the direction to go that way.”
Danault’s deal is for six years and $33 million (an AAV of $5.5 million), while Edler’s deal is for one year and $3.5 million.
Just what are the Kings getting in Danault? According to two former Kings – Tyler Toffoli and Nate Thompson, both of whom played with Danault in Montreal – he is a player who checks many boxes, beginning with the fact that Danault’s presence will lighten Anze Kopitar’s workload at center.
Kopitar was really the only reliable faceoff option for the Kings in the defensive zone this past season. Now he has help.
“He will take some D-zone minutes away from him, for sure,” said Toffoli, a teammate of Danault this past season in their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Thompson, who signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, played parts of the last two seasons with Danault.
“He’s a jack of all trades,” Thompson said in a telephone interview. “He can play physical. He can make plays. He can win faceoffs. He can kill penalties. Literally, Phil can do it all.
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“For (Kings coach) Todd (McLellan) and that coaching staff, having Phil in the lineup is going to give them a lot of options and it’s going to take a lot of pressure off Kopi … because you’re going to have a guy like Phil Danault come in and eat up those hard minutes.”
The Kings had a deep hole at second-line center, and as Thompson noted, Danault becomes an all-in-one solution.
Essentially, the Kings adopted the same strategy toward free agency as they did at the entry draft – they had specific targets in mind and they paid the necessary price in order to accomplish their goals.
“I’m not sure if it’s a sales pitch,” Blake said. “We went in and explained exactly what our team was going to look like this year, next year and the year after — and the holes that we felt we needed to fill.
“We went over our prospects. We went over the ones we felt can get into our lineup, when can they push to get into our lineup. What (Danault) would do (to) solidify the middle of the ice.
“We’ve done this for a number of years. But the different part here is we’re actually now showing him how we’re going to get better and when and how we want to be competitive and move forward. It was exciting for us to be in that (position) because it’s a much different approach than for the last two years when we had to pull really really top-end players out of our lineup.”
Danault called the decision “an obvious choice,” and said he was sold on the idea of L.A. as a destination by Kings president Luc Robitaille as well as Blake, McLellan and Jake Goldberg, senior director of hockey operations.
“He (Robitaille) talked to me in French in the beginning,” Danault said. “So he got me right there. A great person. He called me after we signed as well and we talked about life in L.A. I didn’t play much in L.A, maybe four times. I didn’t know much about Los Angeles. But I’m thrilled. I’ve heard lots of good things about it.
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“It’s going to be exciting. Luc and Rob just told me my role and how they believe in me, to be successful. They showed me the future, what they want to do. I’m really excited to be a part of this. It was a no-brainer for me.”
Danault creates stability at a position, No. 2 center, that has been in a state of flux for years. The six-year contract means that by the time prospect Quinton Byfield is ready to play up the lineup, Danault can seamlessly slide down to the No. 3 center spot.
Danault finished sixth in Selke Trophy voting in 2021, receiving one first-place vote (from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). Two fourth-place votes came from Eric Stephens of The Athletic and myself. He was sixth in Selke voting in 2020 and seventh in 2019.
“Everyone sees what he brings and saw what he brought in the playoffs,” Thompson said. “He’s gotten Selke votes every year for a reason. He’s going to take a lot of pressure off some of those players – especially Kopi.
“The thing I love about Phil is that he is able to bring offense to the game but his defensive game never gets sacrificed because of it.
“He’s one of those guys that prides himself on not getting scored on and winning faceoffs and doing all those little things. Having Phil in the lineup in L.A. is going to help a lot of those young guys immensely.
“Not only is he going to be good for them defensively but he’s had over 50 points and he can chip in offensively as well.”
At 28, Danault is in the prime of his career and has managed to put together a consistent body of work and hasn’t flinched playing in one of the tougher markets in the league.
In 2018-19, Danault had a career-high 53 points (12 goals, 41 assists). He dropped to 47 points two seasons ago and had 24 points (five goals, 19 assists) in 53 games this past season.
A closer examination of the past three seasons shows Danault has the offensive ability to help the Kings five-on-five.
"daNaULt CAn't ProDuCE oFfeNSe"
5×5 points per 60 last three seasons:
Aho – 2.16
Schiefele – 2.14
Danault – 2.14
Giroux – 2.09
Eichel – 2.075×5 primary assists per 60 last three seasons:
Barkov – .95
Danault – .93
Draisaitl – .9
Backstrom – .88
Barzal – .86— 610 (@610Barstool) July 28, 2021
Additionally, he will give the Kings another option in the faceoff circle. Overall, Kopitar took 1,154 faceoffs this past season. The next closest player was Gabriel Vilardi (634), followed by Blake Lizotte (354).
“He’s a guy everyone will get along with,” Toffoli said. “Comes in every day to work and loves the game. Wants to win.”
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Thompson said that he gravitated toward Danault in the dressing room.
“He’s going to bring good energy to the rink,” Thompson said. “He treats himself and the way he prepares himself as a pro. It’s going to help a lot of those young guys to learn what it takes and how to prepare and how to be a true pro and Phil does that. He does it right every single day.
“That was a great signing for them.”
Immediately after the season, Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty put public pressure on Kings management to improve the roster. Blake said he texted with Doughty and talked to Kopitar on Wednesday.
“Those conversations started right after the season with those two guys,” Blake said. “We sat down and said, ‘This this how we want to get better. I want to get better. You guys want to get better. We all do as an organization.’ But I wanted to show them what we wanted to do.
“I said, we need to fill a couple of holes up front. We’ve got to solidify the back end. … We’ve all been on the same page and now it’s time to move forward.”
Edler’s fit, and Athanasiou returns
The other meaningful move of the day was the signing of Edler to help bolster the left side of the Kings’ defense. Conceivably, Edler could play with Sean Walker.
“I know he’s 35, but he’ll be a motivated player and it will be good for them, the younger players, to have another veteran to learn from, which is always good at that position,” said one coach on an NHL staff. “He blocks a ton of shots and is a big, rangy guy.”
Edler blocked 118 shots in 52 games this past season, which led Canucks and would have also led the Kings by a substantial margin.
I reached out Thomas Drance, Vancouver beat writer for The Athletic, for his thoughts on Edler and his impact with the Canucks and what he might be able to do with the Kings.
Drance said: “Alex Edler is the greatest Canucks defenseman in franchise history, and his game has evolved over time.
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“As a younger player, Edler was more of an offensively inclined defender, super-active in transition and a bit higher risk. As he’s aged, he’s become a meaner, shutdown type defender. And his two-way intelligence is still absolute off the charts. Edler’s mobility has declined to the point where he really needs a right-handed defense partner mobile enough to do the heavy lifting in the neutral zone (on both sides of the puck). In-zone, however, Edler’s overall game awareness still plays. He’s an exceptional shooter, a smart passer and reads the play well on offense. He’s mean, smart and responsible on defense, while also being an excellent penalty-killer.
“To get the most out of Edler, the Kings should be really disciplined about keeping his ice time manageable. Vancouver hasn’t really had the depth to accomplish this, and Edler’s had a tendency to start strong and fade a bit as the rigors of the season catch up to him.
“If they can pair him with the right player, manage his minutes scrupulously — and even consider a load-management regimen — there’s a real chance that he can contribute at the level of a top-four defender, and even provide surplus value at a $3.5 million clip.”
In other business, the Kings signed pending restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou to a one-year extension worth $2.7 million, which is a meaningful jump from the $1.2 million he played for this past season. In 47 games, Athanasiou scored 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) and missed some time dealing with the effects of COVID-19.
(Photo of Phillip Danault: David Kirouac / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)