If you think back to the Montreal Canadiens' run in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, arguably one of the first players that will come to your mind is Phillip Danault.
He wasn't exactly the flashiest player on the ice statistics-wise (he scored a goal, contributed three assists, and tallied thirty-nine shots across twenty-two postseason games), but he was one of the more "fun" players on the roster.
The reason for this? Look no further than his post-series-victory pizza orders during Montreal's 2021 postseason run. The trend made its debut following Montreal's 3-1 victory in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The trend continued after Montreal completed the sweep against Winnipeg in the next round, and he even gave Cole Caufield some pizza after the Habs locked up a Stanley Cup Final berth after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in the third round.
While he would sign a deal with the Los Angeles Kings in free agency, the door is starting to open for a Phillip Danault return to Montreal.
According to a rumour suggested by Maxime Truman of Danslescoulisses.com, the centre is open to ending his career with Montreal despite being under contract with Los Angeles until the end of next season.
The report was confirmed by Stéphane Fiset, Phillip Danault's former agent, during an interview with BPM Sports.
That said, a potential hurdle facing such a move takes the form of Phillip Danault's contract. Danault is currently in the fifth year of a six -year, $33 million contract with an annual cap hit of $5.5 million. According to PuckPedia, Montreal only has around $3 million in cap space, which would require Kent Hughes and the Habs front office to send a player or two back to Los Angeles in order to be cap-compliant.
Even then, Phillip Danault is the kind of player Montreal could benefit from as they turn from a rebuilding phase towards a period of playoff contention. With players like Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov only beginning their careers in the NHL and others like Lane Hutson still figuring out the fine details of life in the NHL, Phillip Danault would be perfect in a mentorship role for such players.
While the Habs do have eight centres/centre-capable players - Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Jake Evans, Oliver Kapanen, Jared Davidson, Owen Beck, and Joe Veleno - three of them (Veleno, Davidson, Dach) are set to enter restricted free agency. In addition, Owen Beck only just got recalled from the Laval Rocket. It's also worth noting that Oliver Kapanen is also capable of playing right-wing and that Alex Newhook can play both centre and left-wing, meaning that Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans are the only full-time centers currently on the Habs' roster.
Oh, and Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook are on injured reserve.
With the above in mind, a Phillip Danault trade would also serve to fill a need in the immediate future, especially with Owen Beck splitting time between the Habs' roster and the Laval Rocket and the Habs' injury situation among other issues.
In terms of the kind of trade Montreal could pitch for Danault's services, it's worth remembering that the Habs have only $3 million in cap space as of right now. Sending injured-reserve-occupant/free-agency-bound Patrik Laine to Los Angeles would clear this need with relative ease (Laine's cap hit this year is $8.7 million, while Danault's cap hit is $5.5 million), however it is unclear whether Montreal intends to retain Laine's services for the remainder of the season before discussing a new contract.
Of the restricted free agency-bound players, Kirby Dach has a cap hit of just under $3.5 million, while winger Alexandre Texier's contract is worth one million. Joe Veleno has a cap hit of $900,000, while Zack Bolduc and Jared Davidson both have cap hits of around $850,000. In terms of defencemen, Arber Xhekaj is the only free agency-bound player; his cap hit would come in at around $1.3 million.
If a Phillip Danault trade were to involve any of the players listed previously, it would have to include at least three of them; for example, sending the contracts of Joe Veleno, Zack Bolduc, and Jared Davidson to Los Angeles would essentially be the equivalent of sending the Kings 2.6 million dollars. Add on Montreal's cap space, and the Habs would only just be cap-compliant.
In all, it's possible to see how a trade for Phillip Danault, who would be open to finishing his career in Montreal, could come to fruition.
And if I was Montreal, I would at least consider it.