Phillip Danault just finished his fourth season with the Los Angeles Kings and it was more of the same from what fans have come to expect from the center. He was a steady presence as the team's center on the third line and made more of an impact with his defensive ability.
Danault finished the season with his lowest point total with the Kings at only 43 points and didn't have double digit goals for the first time since the 2020-21 season when he was with the Montreal Canadiens. However, that could have been due to just bad luck as he had an expected goal total of 15.1, according to MoneyPuck.
Danault this season seemed to be more of a facilitator as he had his lowest shot total with the Kings with only 239 on the season. However, he had 35 assists (one off his career high with the team) but had a career high in Primary Assists as 28 of those assists fell into that category.
He also made a big impact in the playoff series against the Oilers with two goals (both in Game 1) and six assists in the series.
Phillip Danault's Grade with the Los Angeles Kings: B-
While the goals decreasing is certainly not a good sign and hopefully he can get back to being close to a 20+ goal scorer next season, he makes enough plays that he is a key part of the bottom six for this offense. The improvements in assists was great to see and one of the reasons players like Warren Foegele had such a great season with the Los Angeles Kings.
I would expect that going into next season, Jim Hiller will probably want to try and keep Danault and Foegele together with how well they worked off each other. As a 3C, Danault does enough good that he can help this offense in that role.