The Montreal Canadiens pulled off a much-anticipated trade late Friday night. The deal came about an hour before the midnight deadline on December 19, right before the Christmas roster freeze went into effect.
The deal, as had been grinding on the rumor mill, involved sending center Phillip Danault to the Canadiens. The chatter had been that the LA Kings weren’t going to give up Danault for nothing. The move, if done, would land the Kings something of value for the veteran forward.
Well, all that was just chatter.
The Canadiens announced they landed Danault for a 2026 second-round pick. That’s all.
As noted earlier here on Heavy, the Canadiens were looking at a reunion with Danault. The team desperately needs a center, and Danault was reportedly available. While Danault’s agent, Allan Walsh, vehemently denied that Danault had asked for a trade, the final transaction seems to suggest otherwise.
While the second-rounder is not a bad return given the circumstances, it’s a far cry from what the Kings wanted to do. Even on Friday morning, during the latest edition of his 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman discussed how the Kings weren’t going to make a move for the sake of making one.
As Habs insider Marco D’Amico noted, the Kings wanted Canadiens forward Jake Evans. They’ll ultimately backed down and took the draft pick. Likely, the Kings accepted that deal as they didn’t retain any of Danault’s salary. That situation meant that the price went down for Montreal.
Canadiens Get the Center They Had Been Looking For
The talk this season had been about the Canadiens looking for a top-six center. While Danault doesn’t necessarily count as one, he does qualify as the center the club had been looking for. The Habs ran into serious injury issues down the middle with the losses of Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook.
Adding Danault offsets those losses. The team can now confidently deploy Danault as its 2C for the remainder of the season. Most importantly, the Canadiens get a defensively reliable shutdown center. And they got him without having to sacrifice a high-end prospect of a first-round pick.
That’s a massive win for the Habs.
Montreal May Look to Make More Moves
While the Danault trade is a massive win for the Canadiens, they may still look to make more moves. The biggest sticking point at the moment is the uncertainty in the crease. If the Habs continue to face questions about Samuel Montembeault, a move to bring in another goalie could be on the horizon.
That move will likely come closer to the trade deadline. There are a few goalies rumored to be on the market. While the chatter has not linked the Canadiens directly to any of them, it might only be a matter of time before that’s the case.
So, Montreal fans should keep an ear out for chatter suggesting a goalie heading to Montreal. For the time being, the Christmas roster freeze will bring about a week of calm as the schedule winds down before the Holidays.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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