Philip Danault it has adapted 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 to 2021, enjoys the warmer weather, sun and relaxed atmosphere.
“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, quiet. It feels like we’re in Hawaii all the time. It’s special.”
Danault had a similarly smooth fit on the ice with the Kings, scoring an NHL career-best 27 goals in 79 games last season with a career-best five game-winning goals, which ranked second. place in the team. Adrian KempeIt’s seven. The Chicago Blackhawks’ 26th overall pick 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 of the season in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
Video: LAK@DET: Danault’s second goal seals Kings win in overtime
“With Phil, when we acquired him, we knew we were getting a good player,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said. “We weren’t sure about that level of offense. And now he seems to find a nice compliment with Trevor Moore Y [Viktor] Arvidsson and the way they play bass and everything. But yeah, we definitely have an expectation of Phil now going up offensively.”
The way the Kings have used Danault after signing him to a six-year, $33 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) on July 28, 2021 has been as rejuvenating for him as the weather and lifestyle. Of California.
“They gave me every opportunity to prove myself differently and they used me differently on the ice as well, not just defensive matchups and things like that,” Danault said. “It was definitely a different role. They even gave me some power plays.” [time], which I was ordering 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 in their second row behind the longtime top lane center anze kopitar. He played most of last season with Moore on the left flank and Arvidsson on the right. Moore had 48 points (17 goals, 31 assists), all of his 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 talk about the same things,” Moore said. “There are two of us trying to be simple, straight-line players. We just want to work hard and 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 without losing any of his other strengths. He won 53.6 percent of his matchups last season, second on the Kings to Kopitar (56.9 percent). He is 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 (21) they allowed in the 56-game 2020-21 season.
“Phil is a great player,” Blackhawks forward Max Domi said. Domi played with Danault in Montreal from 2018 to 2020.
“They kept him with his hands tied behind his back when he was in Montreal for a while, because they just tagged him as a defensive guy, strictly faceoffs and penalties and all that, and he’s one of the best at it. You didn’t really see his offensive skills. All of a sudden you come to Los Angeles and he’s still doing all those things, because you know he can do it, but he has more offensive control and he broke it. 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 get back in the right direction and for the young guys as well. Game 7, a lot of experience was gained,” Danault said. “I think we took more than one step forward last season with Game 7 that we had in the playoffs, everything.”
“Obviously, I want to win the Stanley Cup. That’s going to be my goal all the time. I want to get better every year, prove myself, I want to be better in the small details, also defensively. I want to keep playing.” on offensively. Sure, get better every day, every year.”
NHL.com Independent Correspondent Dan Greenspan contributed to this report.
Source: news.google.com