Danault traded

Well, au revoir, Danault. I guess this makes the Kings worse defensively and could possibly see them miss the playoffs. Hopefully, there will be a silver lining for this pick, if it ever turns out to be useful. But since Holland is our GM, I doubt it will be to our benefit.
 
Glad this saga is over.

Happy for Phil to land in MTL. Happy for LA fans it's not a division rival. Return isn't spectacular, but his play this season sadly didn't warrant more than that. It's likely going to be a very high 2nd rounder, too, considerin it's CBJ's.

Happy for Turcotte as it seems he will finally get his fair chance to prove himself. It's make or break for him.


This unfolding like the smoke suggested (there WAS fire at the root of it) it does raise some questions:
What was the problem?
- Was he homesick and depressed in LA?
- Was he tired of Hiller hockey? If so, how come that wasn't the issue last year, his PO performance was great?
- Was he tired of Hiller after his blunders in the playoffs he played really well in?

He always had "access" to good linemates, it's not like he was on a line with some scrubs or has-beens and asked to elevate their game.

Then there are further questions:
- Did he "mail it in" quite early into the season and did his disgruntlement then affect the rest of the team (and his linemates especially, as both of his standard ones are on significant down years, too)? Did the players get frustrated with Phil knowing there's Turcotte trying to earn ice time, but Hiller being "forced" to play a disgruntled Phil instead of him for the fear of making Phil even more disgruntled? This is plausible based on the comment from the team that Turcotte will now finally get a proper chance. Maybe Hiller just doesn't like playing the 4th line, no matter how good it is, and this was the only way for Turc. Maybe his brain can't comprehend comining 3 D pairings and 4 F lines.

- Or was it the other way around - the rest of the team "mailing it in" and that caused Phil to become ineffective and disgruntled?

I don't know. What I know is that if HE was the problem, team should respond positively. If the rest of the team is the problem, they shouldn't. If Hiller is the problem, they shouldn't either. The team's performance in the near future should be telling...
 
Bollocks said:
Glad this saga is over.

Happy for Phil to land in MTL. Happy for LA fans it's not a division rival. Return isn't spectacular, but his play this season sadly didn't warrant more than that. It's likely going to be a very high 2nd rounder, too, considerin it's CBJ's.

Happy for Turcotte as it seems he will finally get his fair chance to prove himself. It's make or break for him.


This unfolding like the smoke suggested (there WAS fire at the root of it) it does raise some questions:
What was the problem?
- Was he homesick and depressed in LA?
- Was he tired of Hiller hockey? If so, how come that wasn't the issue last year, his PO performance was great?
- Was he tired of Hiller after his blunders in the playoffs he played really well in?

He always had "access" to good linemates, it's not like he was on a line with some scrubs or has-beens and asked to elevate their game.

Then there are further questions:
- Did he "mail it in" quite early into the season and did his disgruntlement then affect the rest of the team (and his linemates especially, as both of his standard ones are on significant down years, too)? Did the players get frustrated with Phil knowing there's Turcotte trying to earn ice time, but Hiller being "forced" to play a disgruntled Phil instead of him for the fear of making Phil even more disgruntled? This is plausible based on the comment from the team that Turcotte will now finally get a proper chance. Maybe Hiller just doesn't like playing the 4th line, no matter how good it is, and this was the only way for Turc. Maybe his brain can't comprehend comining 3 D pairings and 4 F lines.

- Or was it the other way around - the rest of the team "mailing it in" and that caused Phil to become ineffective and disgruntled?

I don't know. What I know is that if HE was the problem, team should respond positively. If the rest of the team is the problem, they shouldn't. If Hiller is the problem, they shouldn't either. The team's performance in the near future should be telling...
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Hard to think that Danault was a problem, let alone "the" problem, but who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a Ryan Smyth type situation, though, in which Danault wanted to finish off his career in Canada and with the Habs.

Either way, he likely was not in the Kings plans next season and this will be a great chance for Turcotte to begin getting playing time within more offensively talented linemates.

I assuming there has to be a plan to bring in another Center, however, as even with Helenius we are now very thin up the middle.
 
DryKing said:
Hard to think that Danault was a problem, let alone "the" problem, but who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a Ryan Smyth type situation, though, in which Danault wanted to finish off his career in Canada and with the Habs.

Either way, he likely was not in the Kings plans next season and this will be a great chance for Turcotte to begin getting playing time within more offensively talented linemates.

I assuming there has to be a plan to bring in another Center, however, as even with Helenius we are now very thin up the middle.
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If Danault became disgruntled to the point of being completely ineffective on ice this could, along with Hiller's stubbornness regarding rolling 4 lines, be a big issue in the locker room.

Turcotte is supposedly a born leader, had pretty much as good of an AHL campaing as QB, had 25 points in 68 games last season with less than 12 min TOI and was this season, due to QB moving to center and Hiller not rolling 4 lines, completely in the shadow of a sulking Phil.

That has to have an effect on the entire team. Mind you, I'm not blaming this that much on Phil, I'm blaming this primarily on Hiller not being able to adapt to the roster he has and on Ken not reacting quicker. It's entirely possible Phil made it known during the summer he'd like to move back home, but Ken had different ideas...which would suck if true, as Phil's value was as high as it ever could be back then.


Anyways, based on how this team responds and potential comments on this situation it will become quite clear whether the primary issue was (or still is) sulking Phil, incapable Ken or stubborn Hiller.
 
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I like Phil, we know he was having a tough year this year, however 90% of the team is doing the same. He will be fine in Montreal.
 
Illegal_Stick said:
FWIW Mayor saying that Danault has been unhappy for about a year.
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Probably has to do something with Hiller most likely, or certain relationships within the team went sour.

Anyways, stupid Ken did not trade him during the summer, when his trade value was at an all time high.

Oh well...MTL should send a thank you Christmas card to Ken.
 
Has anyone seen any interviews with Phil… especially ones in French? He may be more forthcoming in his native language.
 
VCRW said:
Has anyone seen any interviews with Phil… especially ones in French? He may be more forthcoming in his native language.
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I started watching Kent Hughes presser with CC on, this is what I got. This is actually what the CC wrote. I did not alter it. Watch it for yourself on Montreal's site.

1766257314315.png
 
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VCRW said:
I think it was the opposite scenario. Danault put the Kings on notice that his time in L.A. was over. That doesn’t bode well for the Hiller regime.
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I mentioned this a few times throughout this season. Either in GDT's or ? While folks were saying Danault was old and done, I though he looked uninterested at times. His mind just was not in the games for the most part. I have a strong feeling that he will be back to his old self in his first game back in Montreal.
 
symbology said:
I mentioned this a few times throughout this season. Either in GDT's or ? While folks were saying Danault was old and done, I though he looked uninterested at times. His mind just was not in the games for the most part. I have a strong feeling that he will be back to his old self in his first game back in Montreal.
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This tracks. His role expanded in the Playoffs as his line turned into the McDavid stopper. And sure enough he played his best most engaged hockey of last season in that series. He looked like the Danault of old.

Montreal is buying low on a player they’re extremely familiar with at the cost of zero NHL roster talent. This is a great deal for them. The Kings had no use for Danault because Hiller didn’t want to use him so I think Holland was fortunate to get a high 2nd rounder for him while retaining no salary.

Great trade for both sides but advantage Montreal.
 
Birdman said:
He was brought in to be the 2C and over time under Hiller, was barely the 3C.

Look back to his first year here, and his reaction to scoring 20 Goals. He got an opportunity to do so, and delivered under TMac. The latter departed, and his role diminished.
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I think they should have kept QB on a wing. Things would be quite different now.
 
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