Phillip Danault has adjusted well to the Southern California lifestyle.
The forward, in his second season with the Los Angeles Kings after playing for the Montreal Canadiens from 2016-21, enjoys the warmer weather, sunshine and laid-back vibe.
“It’s so easy, people are so nice there, our neighbors are great,” Danault said last month at the NHL North American Player Media Tour in Henderson, Nevada. “We drive a golf cart on the day off with baby seats in the back. It’s just, the lifestyle is super nice and easy, chill. It feels like we’re in Hawaii all the time. It’s special.”
Danault had a similarly smooth adjustment on the ice with the Kings, scoring an NHL career-high 27 goals in 79 games last season with a career-best five game-winning goals that ranked second on the team. Adrian Kempe‘s seven. The no. 26 pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2011 NHL Draft, the 29-year-old has 252 points (84 goals, 168 assists) in 475 games for the Blackhawks, Canadiens and Kings. He scored his second goal of the game and season in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
“With Phil, when we acquired him, we knew we were getting a good player,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said. “We weren’t sure of that level of offense. And now he seems to find a real good compliment Trevor Moore and [Viktor] Arvidsson and the way they play down low and everything. But, yeah, we definitely have an expectation of Phil that now increases offensively.”
The way the Kings have used Danault after signing him to a six-year, $33 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) July 28, 2021 has been as rejuvenating for him as California’s weather and lifestyle.
“They gave me all the opportunities to prove myself differently and they used me differently on the ice, too, not only defensive face-offs and stuff like that,” Danault said. “It was definitely a different role. They even gave me some power-play [time], which I was asking for in Montreal. It’s not about the points or scoring goals. They gave me the confidence to believe in myself offensively.”
Danault gives the Kings a reliable center on their second line behind a longtime top-line center Anze Kopitar. He played most of last season with Moore on the left wing and Arvidsson on the right. Moore had 48 points (17 goals, 31 assists), all NHL career highs, in 81 games. Arvidsson had 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) in 66 games. They started this season playing together as well.
“Honestly, not much has changed, we just talked about the same things,” Moore said. “We’re both trying to be straight line, simple players. We just want to work hard, win battles and be good on both sides of the puck, so nothing really changes for us. Just more of the same hopefully.”
Danault has increased his offense while not losing any of his other strengths. He won 53.6 percent of his face-offs last season, second on the Kings to Kopitar (56.9 percent). He’s part of a defense that allowed 2.83 goals per game last season, 10th in the NHL, an improvement from the 3.02 goals per game (21st) they gave up in the 56-game season of 2020-21.
“Phil’s a great player,” Blackhawks forward Max Domi said. Domi played with Danault in Montreal from 2018-20.
“They kind of kept him with his hands tied behind his back when he was in Montreal a little bit, because he was just labeled as a defensive guy, strictly face-offs and penalty kills and all that, and he’s one of the best at that. You didn’t really see his offensive abilities. All of a sudden, you get to LA and he’s still doing all that stuff, because you know he can do it, but he gets more of a leash offensively and he ripped it up . I’m super happy for him.”
Danault has found a new life with the Kings. Last season he helped them advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017-18, a seven-game loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round. Now he and Los Angeles are ready to take the next step.
“I think last year was huge for the franchise to go back in the right direction and also for young guys. Game 7, lots of experience gained,” Danault said. “I think we took more than one step forward last season with the Game 7 we had in the playoffs, everything.”
“Obviously, I want to win the Stanley Cup. That’s going to be my goal the whole time. I want to get better every year, prove myself, I want to be better in little details, defensively as well. I want to keep chipping in offensively. For sure, improve every day, every year.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Dan Greenspan contributed to this report
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