Phillip Danault is headed back to Montreal.
The Canadiens acquired the 32-year-old center from the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night in exchange for a 2026 second-round draft pick that originally was the property of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Danault, in his fifth season with the Kings, was struggling in 2025-26, producing no goals and five assists in 30 games. He was a healthy scratch the past four games.
He has one additional season beyond the current one remaining on a six-year, $33 million contract that carries a $5.5 million salary-cap hit annually. Danault landed that deal when he left Montreal as a free agent in the summer of 2021.
Danault got off to a good start in Los Angeles, scoring a career-high 27 goals in 2021-22. However, his goal total has decreased in each season since then.
In 349 games with the Kings, Danault amassed 70 goals, 130 assists and a plus-41 rating with 151 penalty minutes.
He began his career with the Blackhawks in 2014-15 and spent most of the following season in Chicago before he was traded to Montreal in February 2016.
Danault has 125 goals, 274 assists and a plus-85 rating with 329 penalty minutes in 741 career NHL games over 12 seasons.
–Field Level Media
