Jump to content

Habs re-sign Phillip Danault


dlbalr

Recommended Posts

He’s best suited in a 3C role and this contract is about in line with that so good money and term.

 

As of now, he’ll be one of the most used Cs on the team, should be another long year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TheDriveFor25 said:

He’s best suited in a 3C role and this contract is about in line with that so good money and term.

 

As of now, he’ll be one of the most used Cs on the team, should be another long year.

 

He's far and away the team's best natural C. The mind boggles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

He's far and away the team's best natural C. The mind boggles

 

I agree with you. Not knocking Danault, love what he brings. But no team is winning a cup with him as their best C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TheDriveFor25 said:

 

I agree with you. Not knocking Danault, love what he brings. But no team is winning a cup with him as their best C.

 

The question with him is if he can be a 2C. He's an excellent even strength scorer so if he adds to that on the PP he very well could be. But three years at $3M means he knows he is in the middle six and doesn't mind. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

 

The question with him is if he can be a 2C. He's an excellent even strength scorer so if he adds to that on the PP he very well could be. But three years at $3M means he knows he is in the middle six and doesn't mind. 

 

I think he can function as a #2C - especially if he is playing behind a dangerous, legitimate #1C - but that he is ideally a #3, and quite a good #3 at that.

 

We used to say that Pleks in his prime was an ideal #2. Pleks was a more dangerous offensive player than Danault.

 

As I've grumbled before, MB's failure has not simply been his inability to develop the stud #1C. It expands from there to include a complete absence of any succession plan for both Markov and Plekanec.

 

What would be interesting is a team that had four Danaults down the middle. We were somewhere within the region of this when we had Pleks-DD-Eller. Such a team would not be the ideal model, but would have a lot of depth and be able to roll four  well-anchored two-way lines. I still say that, if you don't have a Joe Thornton, something like that is the model you want to aim at.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, TheDriveFor25 said:

 

I agree with you. Not knocking Danault, love what he brings. But no team is winning a cup with him as their best C.

 

I beg to differ.

 

Ovechkin - Danault - Kucherov
Benn - Plekanec- Kane
Marchand - De la Rose - Laine
Gaudreau - 58 years old Guy Carbonneau - Tarasenko

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

 

I beg to differ.

 

Ovechkin - Danault - Kucherov
Benn - Plekanec- Kane
Marchand - De la Rose - Laine
Gaudreau - 58 years old Guy Carbonneau - Tarasenko

 

Gotta be pretty awful D and G to fit those forwards under the cap... but would really matter? :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

 

I beg to differ.

 

Ovechkin - Danault - Kucherov
Benn - Plekanec- Kane
Marchand - De la Rose - Laine
Gaudreau - 58 years old Guy Carbonneau - Tarasenko

 

MB would dismantle that team due to its ATTITUDE

 

(He would however, retain the four C you list)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

MB would dismantle that team due to its ATTITUDE

 

(He would however, retain the four C you list)

 

Yep. Only winger he would keep is benn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

 

The question with him is if he can be a 2C. He's an excellent even strength scorer so if he adds to that on the PP he very well could be. But three years at $3M means he knows he is in the middle six and doesn't mind. 

 

I think he could be a #2C if he plays with offensive minded forwards and does all the things he does on the ice that the other offensive minded guys wouldn't really want to be doing, kind of like when he played with Pacioretty and Radulov.

 

He isn't there quite yet, but if we put him in a position where he can actually play with productive players, allowing him to be productive, but still playing the game the way he does, he could possibly become a 50 point guy for a few years of his later 20's. Problem I see coming is, we have the guys who are going to be filling those spots either coming, or hopefully a lottery pick this season has us drafting yet another. His immediate future is very likely a #2, and I can see him filling that role admirably if we do the things I mentioned previously. But the end game here is by the time we are ready, we have bonafide young elite Centers coming into those roles, and he slides into #3.

 

Overall love the signing, really like the player, he might not be the kind of guy you win a stanley cup on his back with, obviously,  but he is without a doubt the kind of guy who puts in the noticeable work to get you there a long the journey. He could easily be a Cup Winners version of Eller, Bonino, Williams, etc like we have seen in the past, those middle roster guys who just push you over the edge at the right time during a run. You know their teams didn't win the cup because of them, but you also know they might not have won it without them either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Link67 said:

 

His immediate future is very likely a #2, and I can see him filling that role admirably if we do the things I mentioned previously. But the end game here is by the time we are ready, we have bonafide young elite Centers coming into those roles, and he slides into #3.

 

It's fine if that happens. Look at Kadri in Toronto. Great contract, would be a #2C for any team with a #1 but now he plays 3C to Matthews and Tavares.

 

Also Danault makes only $3M so if he does get pushed down it ain't like he is a heavy load eating up bottom six space.

 

It's also possible that the guys we drafted at centre don't pan out for whatever reason. So we have to be aggressive in how much depth we create there and let them see who is best. If we don't have a C that plays a two way game, Julien will rely hard on Danault even if he isn't as offensively skilled as Poe or Kotka and that means top ES minutes.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there is a chance he could be a solid 3rd line Center on a good team.  I also think some of you are equating the numbers he puts up playing on the top line as equal to what he'd put up on the 3rd line.  That obviously wouldn't happen.  If you moved him to the 3rd line (meaning possibly a few less minutes and more checking roles), combined with our current wingers, he probably stuggles to put up 30 points in my opinion.  Not the stuff of a 3rd line C on a contender...but I'll admit, he still has a little more upside to his game even if the ceiling isn't high. 

 

He takes face-offs well which I think the club needs badly and is critical for a 3rd line C.  Frankly, I think having him play this year on the top line MIGHT help him develop his offense a little more which might help turn him into a much better 3rd line C (maybe that development, down the road, allows him to become a guy who can put up 40 points and still be a strong defensive 3rd line C???)...his defensive ability/awareness is already solid and he takes face-offs well.  If, when that time comes, he's only a 30 point 3rd line C who is strong defensively and takes face-offs well then it'll be a sign the Habs still aren't where they should be...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm a bit surprised a longer deal wasn't sought after by Bergevin. Even if Danault ends up being replaceable in 4 seasons, why wouldn't you want the option to trade a guy with term than not?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Danault was at the FIFA World Cup final game in Russia pretty much right when this news was announced yesterday so I had a feeling he wasn’t much involved in the talks. 

 

I’m indifferent on this deal as I see Danault as a third line center as well. I was happy to see he was all good after taking the shot to the head from Chara last year and in that sense it’s nice to have a player who wears the CH on his sleeve/head as much as he does.

 

I blame him unfairly for the reality that we don’t have better centers on our team, in general. If Plekanec has this crazy resurgence which actually makes Danault our third line center behind an evolved Drouin and a resurgent Plekanec, I’m happy with what I see here. There might be one person on here who thinks that both Drouin and Plekanec can fill my request here however which leaves me at square one of my sentiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...