Player Discussion Phillip Danault

[Vachon23]

Danault is a great 3rd line Center and he is paid like that. It would take a great offer for me to trade him

 

[BaseballCoach]

Indeed... and since Habs are not Stanley Cup contenders even in anyone's wildest dream, there is no need for Danno.

Wow, just wow.

Pray tell, how do you become a contender without those key support players?

 

[MasterD]

Wow, just wow.

Pray tell, how do you become a contender without those key support players?

As much as I love Danault as our 3rd line C, if there's an option to trade him to improve our top 6 or top 4 LD significantly, you have to do it. They are much more imporant players that the 3rd line support role players like Danault.

 

[ZUKI]

Oh yeah Im such a quebecophobe. Im from St Henri and my family is 100% francophone, so no, it doesn't mean anything.

of course yeah . I am from China and my familly is 100 % Russian so i am not a Ontariophobe

 

[26Mats]

Danault is a great 3rd line Center and he is paid like that. It would take a great offer for me to trade him

Especially given the fact that he produces offensively like a 2nd line center and is in the top tier NHL-wide defensively...

 

[Sorinth]

Right, Danault and two offensive centres. And a 4th like Thompson OR Poehling. However, Danualt will get lots of minutes, just like Doug Jarvis and Guy Carbonneau did in their primes.

The main issue when looking beyond next year is Danault will likely be paid as a 2nd liner should, and he deserves it. Yet ideally we would want him on the third line, so his role and salary aren't likely to match up. And since Poehling will likely be able to bring a similar level of play within a few years there doesn't seem to be a long term future for Danault with us unless he moves to wing or takes another big step offensively.

 

[BaseballCoach]

The main issue when looking beyond next year is Danault will likely be paid as a 2nd liner should, and he deserves it. Yet ideally we would want him on the third line, so his role and salary aren't likely to match up. And since Poehling will likely be able to bring a similar level of play within a few years there doesn't seem to be a long term future for Danault with us unless he moves to wing or takes another big step offensively.

I hear you but this can be evaluated in the future with actual players and salaries in front of the GM or fantasy GM. Good teams quite often have a second line level guy centering the third line and find a way to afford it. It sometimes depends on how much the top two guys earn.

 

[Sorinth]

I hear you but this can be evaluated in the future with actual players and salaries in front of the GM or fantasy GM. Good teams quite often have a second line level guy centering the third line and find a way to afford it. It sometimes depends on how much the top two guys earn.

To a certain extent sure, but at the same time it's not that far into the future, so it's a good idea to start planning already.

 

[Milhouse40]

I hear you but this can be evaluated in the future with actual players and salaries in front of the GM or fantasy GM. Good teams quite often have a second line level guy centering the third line and find a way to afford it. It sometimes depends on how much the top two guys earn.

It's going to be all about what he does this season and his demands after than that.
If he starts asking more than 5M$, not sure i want to keep him at this price.

 

[Habs Icing]

A center core of

1) Domi
2) KK (especially if he develops his offensive a little more)
3) Danault

Is nothing to sneeze at. In a couple of years that would be one of the top 6-7 center cores in the league.

 

[Rapala]

Although I agree that Danault is a legitimate 2nd line center, the fact remains that if we want to win the cup we are going to have to beat teams like Tampa, Pittsburgh, Washington, Toronto that have two 1st line centers. So for the most part the whole is he a 2nd line center or not is irrelevant since having a 2nd line center on the 2nd line probably isn't good enough.

Good Post...
Is Danault as good or better than prime Pleks? I say no he isn't and he's not likely to be. So unless he turns in Patrice Bergeron type performances he is not going to center a SCF team in that second slot.
Even then we would still need a good offensive driver to balance the act as Plek found out over the years.

 

[Sorinth]

Good Post...
Is Danault as good or better than prime Pleks? I say no he isn't and he's not likely to be. So unless he turns in Patrice Bergeron type performances he is not going to center a SCF team in that second slot.
Even then we would still need a good offensive driver to balance the act as Plek found out over the years.

I think you can build a SC winning team with a Plek or Danault as your 2nd line center. Afterall Chicago won with Handzus as their #2, but you basically have to be elite in other areas. Chicago had 2 offensive studs, and amazing depth on wing on top of one of the leagues better D groups.

That said it's much easier to build with two 1st line centers which we might actually have in Domi/Kotkaniemi. So rather then stick with Danault as elite 3rd line center ala Pittsburgh's Crosby/Malkin/Staal recipe, I would actually try to see if Danault can be a winger because if he can produce his 40-50 points and provide strong defence as a winger then it makes building a winning team a whole lot easier.

 

[Sorinth]

A center core of

1) Domi
2) KK (especially if he develops his offensive a little more)
3) Danault

Is nothing to sneeze at. In a couple of years that would be one of the top 6-7 center cores in the league.

Yet in a couple of years don't we expect Poehling to be more then a 4th line center? Will Danault actually be happy if he's used as a 3rd line center. Probably not.

 

[MasterD]

Yet in a couple of years don't we expect Poehling to be more then a 4th line center? Will Danault actually be happy if he's used as a 3rd line center. Probably not.

Wether or not Poelhing develops remains to be seen, and we can choose to move someone then. Lots of teams have more than 3 top 9 centers and play some of them on the wing, I don't see why we couldn't.

And why would Danault not like playing the 3rd line in the NHL? He's paid like a 3rd liner... and it's nothing to scoff at.

 

[Habs Icing]

Yet in a couple of years don't we expect Poehling to be more then a 4th line center? Will Danault actually be happy if he's used as a 3rd line center. Probably not.

When I say 3rd line center I'm not talking about ice time. I'm referring to situational deployment. I could see all three centers getting about 17 minutes each. As for Poehling, if he proves to be better than Danault then we have an even better center corps.

 

[Vachon23]

Good Post...
Is Danault as good or better than prime Pleks? I say no he isn't and he's not likely to be. So unless he turns in Patrice Bergeron type performances he is not going to center a SCF team in that second slot.
Even then we would still need a good offensive driver to balance the act as Plek found out over the years.

No he’s not Plekanec level offensively. Plekanec was a real 2nd line Center Danault is more an 2/3 like Antoine Vermette ( in his prime) and if you look at there cap hit, Pleky was at 5m and + is all career, and Danault is at 3m

 

[Sorinth]

Wether or not Poelhing develops remains to be seen, and we can choose to move someone then. Lots of teams have more than 3 top 9 centers and play some of them on the wing, I don't see why we couldn't.

And why would Danault not like playing the 3rd line in the NHL? He's paid like a 3rd liner... and it's nothing to scoff at.

Moving someone to wing sure, and to me that guy is Danault .

As for why we wouldn't want to play 3rd line, well he's spent the last 2-3 season playing 1st/2nd line, and will likely again this year. As for him being paid like a 3rd liner, you can bet he'll want to be paid a lot more then he currently is.

EDIT: And for Poehling, yes it remains to be seen but at the same time you have to make decisions to open spots if you want guys to develop. We made the mistake of not doing that with Galchenyuk/Eller. They were stuck behind others and in the end neither reached the potential they had shown. Whereas if you go back further and look at Plekanec, we didn't wait for him to prove he was a top-6 center, instead we traded Ribeiro in part because it opened up a spot for him which he then developed and grew in.

 

[Mrb1p]

Moving someone to wing sure, and to me that guy is Danault .

As for why we wouldn't want to play 3rd line, well he's spent the last 2-3 season playing 1st/2nd line, and will likely again this year. As for him being paid like a 3rd liner, you can bet he'll want to be paid a lot more then he currently is.

EDIT: And for Poehling, yes it remains to be seen but at the same time you have to make decisions to open spots if you want guys to develop. We made the mistake of not doing that with Galchenyuk/Eller. They were stuck behind others and in the end neither reached the potential they had shown. Whereas if you go back further and look at Plekanec, we didn't wait for him to prove he was a top-6 center, instead we traded Ribeiro in part because it opened up a spot for him which he then developed and grew in.

And Koivu too. They traded away Turgeon to make room for him. (Turgeon was the wrong center to trade though.)

 

[1909]

Why would you move the best center youve had since Koivu to the wing? A team that has historically struggled to produce centers wouldnt do that. Danault is a dime a dozen player, he can **** off or play wing, Poehling has more upside than him anyway.

How much more shit can you write... ? Come on !

 

[Mrb1p]

How much more **** can you write... ? Come on !

You mean Danault isnt an average player? So hes a first liner?

 

[Andrei79]

You mean Danault isnt an average player? So hes a first liner?

11 goal, secondary assists racking 1st line 50 point centers who cant play the PP are apparently too valuable to play anywhere else.


Seems like a solid plan to the cup to keep him where he is.

Its impressive how when you get over the fact Danault just has to play center and just has to do it in a top 6 role, how the mental gymnastics of having to put Domi on the wing dies down almost instantly. And how suddenly, there's no logjam preventing our actual future at center from getting ice time.

 

[Mrb1p]

11 goal, secondary assists racking 1st line 50 point centers who cant play the PP are apparently too valuable to play anywhere else.


Seems like a solid plan to the cup to keep him where he is.

Who knows, this has never happened before, right???? RIGHT???

 

[angusyoung]

11 goal, secondary assists racking 1st line 50 point centers who cant play the PP are apparently too valuable to play anywhere else.


Seems like a solid plan to the cup to keep him where he is.

Its impressive how when you get over the fact Danault just has to play center and just has to do it in a top 6 role, how the mental gymnastics of having to put Domi on the wing dies down almost instantly. And how suddenly, there's no logjam preventing our actual future at center from getting ice time.

Just play PD with Armia and Byron and shut down the opposition top line. That trio predominantly earns their points individualistic anyways. Can at least deploy TT and BG in a more offensive role.

 

[1909]

You mean Danault isnt an average player? So hes a first liner?

He is a very good second liner (Domi is the #1 centerman) for the time being, and an excellent 3rd line center down the road WHEN KK will be ready to take more responsibilities.

Sorry if it's too hard for your small brain to understand.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

This team always puts competing now over developing for the future that’s just how it is in this market.

That said , I have no problem with Danault playing over KK unless KK shows he’s a better hockey player and C than Danault. If KK was dangling people and scoring goals left and right I would get why people would be mad if Danault was a top 6 option over KK. The kid is like 19 and i see no point in rushing him in a top 2 C role unless you think he’s ready. If KK can’t beat Danault for a top 6 C job in the next 2 years or so that’s on him in my opinion. Listen I know we suck at developing kids but at some point when you draft kids at 3rd overall you expect them to carve their place themselves and just end up being better than a guy like Danault and give the coach no choice down the line