The most notable offseason signing for the LA Kings came on the beginning of the first day of free agency, when General Manager Rob Blake signed center Phillip Danault to a six-year contract.
The 28-year-old native of Victoriaville, Quebec leaves the Montreal Canadians after six seasons with the organization and an unexpected run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, where he and his teammates fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. Danault, who played a vital role with the Canadians down the middle, is best known for his lockdown defense against other team’s top forwards, while still producing solid offensive totals.
“I wanted to be a part of a great franchise and a great group of young guys,” Danault said. “LA was the perfect fit. I’m really proud to be a member of the LA Kings.”
Danault joined the All The Kings Men Podcast, as he talked with host Jesse Cohen and Zach Dooley on a variety of topics, ranging from why he chose to sign with the Kings to his on-ice, shutdown abilities, to off-ice things like adjusting from Montreal to Los Angeles, choosing his number, and the price of keeping his number with the Kings.
On his role as a shutdown center versus opponent’s top line
I took a lot of pride in my role [as a shutdown center against the other team’s best line]. Night after night, going up against Connor McDavid and Austin Matthews it’s stressful and tiring, they go so fast. You have to be alert mentally and can’t slip up for one second. I didn’t do it by myself, we did it all together as a team. My role really stood out this year.
On helping add to the good culture in LA
They have really good veterans in LA and I can’t wait to get started. I think culture is everything on a team. You can win against any team with a good culture.
On mentoring Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi and doing that in LA
I did pass on everything I knew from my game, but at some point, they can’t be the same player as I am. It’s up to them to take the most valuable advice for their game, I think it’s one of the reasoning we were able to go to the Cup finals. Now, I want to do the same thing here. I really want to be a good mentor and player in LA.
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.