Just ahead of the freeze during the holiday this upcoming week for the league on Friday night, the Los Angeles Kings and new general manager Ken Holland dealt two-way center Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens for a return of a second-round draft pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Los Angeles Kings get a second-round pick for the future for 2026 in return for center Phillip Danault on the trade market
The second-round draft pick is for 2026 from Columbus from the Blue Jackets.
This isn't really shocking news that Holland and the Kings' front office made the move to trade Danault on the trade market early this regular season for the team. Over a few months ago, the rumors started swirling in various media and fan circles on social media that Danault and the Kings weren't necessarily on the best of terms.
It sounds like Danault wanted a bigger role on the team with the top-six forward lines group up front. He was originally one of the top two-way centers for the Kings' forward lines core roster group a few years ago when he signed with the team from the Canadiens in Montreal before the 2021-22 season in the West.
Holland and the Kings were reportedly looking for a valued player in return for Danault on the trade market this fall for this past couple of months. But it sounds like no offer ever came to the table or materialized for Holland and the Kings on the trade block in the past few weeks for Danault with the Habs.
As it currently stands now in the standings in the Eastern Conference, the Kings would get a top 45 pick in the second round of the 2026 draft from Columbus from the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets are in last place in the standings in the Metropolitan Division in the East.
I do want to say that getting a high-second-round draft pick on the trade block this regular season this year isn't a bad trade asset completely for Holland and the Kings. But the fact of the matter is that the Kings needed to improve the roster on the top-six forward lines core group.
Trading Danault means that the Kings have a void to fill in the third-line center role. And while he's been in a slump offensively on the stat sheet early this regular season this fall, Danault has contributed defensively and on special teams on the penalty kill for head coach Jim Hiller and the Kings in the past couple of months in the West.
Danault will re-join a Canadiens' team in the Atlantic Division in the East that he played for this past decade in the 2010s decade for over five years. He has been in an offensive slump for Hiller and the Kings' team early this regular season, posting zero goals in 30 games played this fall.
Danault carries one of the more expensive contracts in the league in the NHL for a third-line or potentially second-line center forward position this regular season.
He's due to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2026-27 season, with an average annual value on his contract worth around $5.5 million.
Holland and the Kings freed up some cap room on the active roster cap sheet for this regular season going into the trade deadline next spring in 2026.