Player Discussion Phillip Danault - Damn-oh ! Edition

[Scriptor]

Watching bits and pieces of the game tonight but I thought I would just come here and say that I am starting to get annoyed with Habs fans who keep saying that Phil Danault is properly a 3rd or 4th line player.

I don't see why we need to keep denying that he can maintain second line level play; he's on his third season of doing so.

Now, of course I would love to have a second line center pivoting my third line and this may well happen really soon, but I think Danault deserves a bit more love around here.

Love? Maybe not, but credit? For sure.

 

[dgeezus]

24 EV points, 2nd behind Domi. Not bad for a 3rd line center.

 

[Vachon23]

He's on pace for a 50 pts season and this is without PP minutes, always playing vs the best lines. Some will say he plays with good player, true but Gally and Tatar are not P.Kane ! They are good player but they are not players that carries a line. What is doing this season is amazing ! With his performance, the organization can take all the time they want with KK and this is a good news to

 

[Karma Police]

Eck-blah is 6'6"?

Danault is 6' , Ekblad is 6'4

 

[Frank Drebin]

On pace for 14G, 55pts. How does that shape up around the league for #2 and #3 centers? If kotka bumps him down to the third line is it fair to expect 35 points from him?

 

[1909]

Danault might not be a bona fide true 2nd line center, but he is very close of being one. Better offensively since few games, good on faceoffs, good defensively. Fit well with Tatar and Gally.

 

[cphabs]

Gratz!

 

[Belial]

No skill scrub doing great lately! Go Phil Go!

 

[Tyson]

He brings it every shift...that alone has my respect

 

[Sorinth]

Watching bits and pieces of the game tonight but I thought I would just come here and say that I am starting to get annoyed with Habs fans who keep saying that Phil Danault is properly a 3rd or 4th line player.

I don't see why we need to keep denying that he can maintain second line level play; he's on his third season of doing so.

Now, of course I would love to have a second line center pivoting my third line and this may well happen really soon, but I think Danault deserves a bit more love around here.

100% agree that Danault is a legitimate 2nd liner. His first year it was debatable whether he was being carried by Radulov/Pacioretty but he put that to rest in the following years.

That being said, is having an average 2nd liner good enough? To be a contender we have to go through teams whose center depth is Matthews/Tavares, Kuznetzov/Backstrom, Crosby/Malkin, Stamkos/Point. So I can see why some would questions whether Danault is good enough.

 

[BaseballCoach]

100% agree that Danault is a legitimate 2nd liner. His first year it was debatable whether he was being carried by Radulov/Pacioretty but he put that to rest in the following years.

That being said, is having an average 2nd liner good enough? To be a contender we have to go through teams whose center depth is Matthews/Tavares, Kuznetzov/Backstrom, Crosby/Malkin, Stamkos/Point. So I can see why some would questions whether Danault is good enough.

Yes, I said the same thing. But it's one thing to say that it's great to have a second liner playing third line for you, and quite another to say that this 40-50 ES point player is a "black hole where offence goes to disappear".

 

[InglewoodJack]

This is another underrated Bergevin move. We got a 2ndish line centre in exchange for two guys who scored a big cumulative 6 regular season points for chicago, and combined for a single goal, and no assists during the playoffs they were rented for (which IIRC chi got swept 1st round). We even picked up the pick that became Romanov who I believe is shaping up to be a promising player.

It's great to see Danault thriving. If he becomes a 50 point guy for the next few years, that would be absolutely awesome. That said, considering the big strides he's made each season, and the fact that he was a first rounder with that associated potential not that long ago, I can imagine a not so farfetched future where this guy hits 65-70 points at his absolute prime.

 

[the]

16 points in 16 games

On pace for 55 points without any PP minutes.

I don’t know if his recent play is substainable but I think he’s starting to breakout. I always considered him a 3rd line center but I think he’s starting to prove that he’s a 2nd line center.

 

[Mario le Magnifique]

16 points in 16 games

On pace for 55 points without any PP minutes.

I don’t know if his recent play is substainable but I think he’s starting to breakout. I always considered him a 3rd line center but I think he’s starting to prove that he’s a 2nd line center.

He deserves PP time just because he can win faceoffs. If he can get 55 points with PK and no PP duty, I think he could realistically get an extra 10-15 points easily.

 

[Lshap]

16 points in 16 games

On pace for 55 points without any PP minutes.

I don’t know if his recent play is substainable but I think he’s starting to breakout. I always considered him a 3rd line center but I think he’s starting to prove that he’s a 2nd line center.

Yes, he CAN be a 2nd line center. That doesn't mean he SHOULD be our #2C. While Danault has leaped forward the last three weeks and deserves full credit (and my apology), he doesn't get to perch on this throne based on a hot month, anymore than Domi or Tatar did. If Danault sustains this level of play through April then he'll earn a serious look as a top-six C on a good team. The jury is still out.

 

[Adriatic]

Who thought he would school Bergeron on faceoffs last night??

 

[Deebs]

Who thought he would school Bergeron on faceoffs last night??

Danault played great last night, heck, he's been solid for us all year.

 

[MTL-rules]

100% agree that Danault is a legitimate 2nd liner. His first year it was debatable whether he was being carried by Radulov/Pacioretty but he put that to rest in the following years.

That being said, is having an average 2nd liner good enough? To be a contender we have to go through teams whose center depth is Matthews/Tavares, Kuznetzov/Backstrom, Crosby/Malkin, Stamkos/Point. So I can see why some would questions whether Danault is good enough.

Depends on who's the 1c... right now, we don't have a true no1, because when you have a McDavid, you can have a shutdown 50pts no2c like Danault...

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Ever since that interview where the media told him Kotka was out for his job (after CJ shuffled the lines), his play has been on a whole other level. Very pleased to eat crow in his regards.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

He's on pace for 54 points while getting no PP time... That's great. Now if we can fool a GM and trade him for a huge price, that would be even better.

Since he scored 3 goals in one game, he's been fantastic.

 

[Belial]

No skill scrub doing great lately! Go Phil Go!

My boy doing great! Extremely smart positionally out there. And even though he's not amazingly gifted with pure skill, he definitely has enough skill to be able to generate things out there.

 

[Rapala]

Depends on who's the 1c... right now, we don't have a true no1, because when you have a McDavid, you can have a shutdown 50pts no2c like Danault...

The collective positioning is a huge factor in a player's role. Phil had a very good start two years ago when he earned his stripes and rose through the ranks. He fell off the table in that post season and has struggled somewhat to regain his value until recently IMO. Once again it isn't his fault we are still looking at the same 1A-1B situation we worked with for the longest time with Pleks. Not having a true number 1 hurts Danault's over all as he will stick out like a sore thumb when we can't score and our PK continues to fail. The formula proved to be defective in the past and there is no way it will be effective going forward as Domi is not the answer and KK isn't ready yet and perhaps never will be.

 

[tooji]

Danault might not be a bona fide true 2nd line center, but he is very close of being one. Better offensively since few games, good on faceoffs, good defensively. Fit well with Tatar and Gally.

I think he is a 3rd line center on a stanley cup contender, and that is a 2nd line center on most teams in the league

 

[Gustave]

He’s +14 despite playing against top competition. Unequivocally a quality player. Props to Phil.

 

[Sorinth]

Depends on who's the 1c... right now, we don't have a true no1, because when you have a McDavid, you can have a shutdown 50pts no2c like Danault...

Even with McDavid/Danault it's still not as good as say Matthews/Tavares or Crosby/Malkin. And that's not with just any "true #1C" that's with the best player in the game. If instead of McDavid it was say Seguin (Arguably actually available) then it becomes even more apparent that we wouldn't match up.

Now you can get away with a weaker #2 if you are elite in other positions since all teams have weaknesses in their lineup.