MONTREAL — Save a slice for Phillip Danault, who’s returning to the Montreal Canadiens.
The pizza-loving centreman, who helped propel the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup appearance in 28 years, was re-acquired late Friday night for the 2026 second-round pick the Canadiens got from the Columbus Blue Jackets for taking on the full weight of Patrik Laine’s remaining $8.7-million cap hit two summers ago.
That the Canadiens gave up this type of asset to the Los Angeles Kings to take on the full weight of Danault’s remaining cap hit — $5.5 million through the end of this season and next — speaks to where they’ve come to in their rebuild since. The move to acquire Laine in August of 2024 was made to give an offensive kick and a morale boost to a team that had lost the most one-goal games in the league a season prior, and the Canadiens still wouldn’t have made it had they not been compensated with that second-round pick. They hadn’t yet proven ready for the next step, though Laine’s acquisition was made to better prepare them to take it.
He helped, the Canadiens pushed forward, and general manager Kent Hughes told us following last season’s trade deadline that he felt prepared to soon “overpay” to acquire players via trade.
Now he’s done it, and here’s why:
As of this writing, the Canadiens sit third in the Atlantic Division but are tied for first with the Florida Panthers in points percentage. They’ve put themselves in that position over 34 games despite not having had a single reliable left-handed centre on the team. They’ve done it while struggling to lock down leads, struggling to defend with consistency and struggling on the penalty kill, where they rank 25th in the NHL, and Danault can help them in all those departments.
The 32-year-old not only increases the average age of the youngest roster in the NHL; he also brings the type of pedigree and experience the Canadiens desperately need. He’s a veteran of 741 regular-season games, and after playing 32 playoff games with the Canadiens over the final two of five full seasons he spent with them, he was tasked with going head-to-head with the world’s best player in four series between the Kings and Edmonton Oilers from 2022-25.
Danault had eight goals and 43 points last season before posting two goals and eight points over the six games he played against McDavid in the last playoffs. He had five goals and 10 points in the other 18 games over the first three meetings with McDavid, which followed seasons of 51, 54 and 47 points, respectively.
It wasn’t expected that Danault would continue to produce at that rhythm over the final two years of his deal, but a drop off to five points through the first 30 games of this season was unpredictable.
The bet the Canadiens are making — that Danault can do better with them — isn’t exactly outlandish. And the bet that he can help them where they need it most is relatively safe.
Danault has still pulled back 52.9 per cent of his faceoffs this season and is still plus-six despite not having scored a goal and having faced off against premium talent on a nightly basis while starting the majority of his shifts away from the offensive zone. He helped free up Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield from some of the defensive burden, and he’ll do the same for Nick Suzuki, Oliver Kapanen and Jake Evans while helping to boost Montreal’s penalty kill.
And it’s not like the Canadiens are uncertain as to how Danault will fit with their group. He helped develop Suzuki into a Selke candidate he’s become, and he’s likely to slot right back in on a line with Brendan Gallagher.
Gallagher and Danault made magic together for years alongside Tomas Tatar before the two of them helped set the goal Artturi Lehkonen scored to send the Canadiens past the Vegas Golden Knights and into the Cup Final.
That was June. 24, 2021, with the image of Danault celebrating the win — like he did all the ones the Canadiens notched on that magical run — with some post-game pizza while doing his Zoom media availability proving unforgettable.
Now the Canadiens have paid a hefty price to make some new memories with Danault. That’s undeniable.
But they still possess their own second-round pick in 2026, they’re still flush with first-, second-, and third-round picks in each of the next three drafts, and they still possess one of the deepest and most talented prospect pools in the NHL. Their future is secure, and they have a surplus of assets to continue to enrich their present.
Friday’s move was one of the first ones made in that vein, and there will be many more like it over the coming years as the Canadiens look to insulate their young core and give themselves many chances to get back to where they were when Danault was last a part of their team.
