Bringing Home Danault Has Been Huge for the Canadiens
Sometimes the best trade isn’t flashy. It isn’t the big-name scorer or the splashy deadline swing. Sometimes it’s the quiet, steady, grown-up move that settles everything down. And for the Montréal Canadiens, that move has been bringing back Phillip Danault.
No, he’s not filling highlight reels. No, he’s not suddenly a 30-goal guy. But he is doing exactly what this team desperately needed — and doing it better than anyone probably expected. Here are three reasons why Danault has turned out to be the Canadiens’ smartest addition of the season.
Danault Has Fixed a Big Hole Down the Middle.
The Canadiens’ bottom-six was leaking chances for most of the season. The shuffle of injuries, rookies, and experiments created a lineup that never felt settled. Danault changed that the second he walked in.
He stepped right into the third-line center role and stabilized it like he’d been there all year. His defensive reads, his puck support, the way he slows the game down when needed — it’s been a massive upgrade.
Since the trade, he’s produced nine points in 21 games and quietly tilted the ice in Montreal’s favour almost every night. Nothing dramatic. Just solid, responsible hockey that this group badly needed.
Danault Has Brought Leadership Without Needing a Spotlight.
Danault arrived and immediately looked like someone who had unfinished business in Montreal. There’s a calm maturity to his game now — the kind that comes after years of tough matchups, playoff runs, and being asked to do the hard minutes.
For a Canadiens roster still figuring out its identity, Danault brings clarity. He plays the same way every night. He works. He checks. He sets the tone.
You can see young forwards playing more confident shifts because they know someone is anchoring things the right way beneath them. That value doesn’t show up in box scores, but absolutely changes a room.
Danault Has Been Scoring Again — and at the Exact Right Time.
He went 43 games without a goal to start the season. Forty-three! But ever since putting on a Canadiens sweater again, the guy has woken up.
Three goals in eight games. A shorthanded empty-net dagger against Winnipeg. A clutch one against Vegas. Points in bunches.
This isn’t vintage Danault suddenly turning sniper — it’s a veteran who’s found rhythm, purpose, and a role that fits him perfectly. When a bottom-six center chips in offence and still shuts down plays defensively, that’s found money in today’s NHL.
The Bottom Line for the Canadiens?
Bringing back Phillip Danault wasn’t just a good move — it might be the smartest, most stabilizing decision the Canadiens have made all season. Not bad for a trade that barely made a ripple at first.