Phillip Danault Is a Player You Appreciate More Over Time

There are players who make you notice them because they score. Then there are players who make you notice them because the other team suddenly doesn't seem to be getting anything done. Phillip Danault has always been much closer to the second group. He isn't the guy you look at and immediately think, “There's our 30-goal scorer.” He's the guy you notice when he's on the ice against the other team's best players, and somehow they just aren't having much fun.

Danault doesn’t need to get on the score sheet to make his team a winner.

That's probably why Danault's career has been so interesting. He has never needed to be a big offensive star to be an important NHL player. In his best offensive seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, he produced enough to keep opponents honest, but his real value was what happened when the other team had the puck. He could take difficult defensive assignments, win battles, read plays before they developed and make life miserable for players who were much more talented with the puck. That's a pretty useful skill set to have around.

And I think Montreal fans probably appreciate that even more now. Danault was part of some very good Canadiens teams, and while the attention often went to the big scorers, he was one of those players coaches trusted when the game got important. You knew he could take a tough defensive-zone draw, go up against a top line and still come back with his team in good shape. There isn't much glamour in that, but there is a lot of value. In fact, I'd argue that defensive forwards like Danault can be underappreciated because their best work often involves preventing something from happening.

Danault grew into his game, and it’s kept him relevant in the NHL.

The other thing I like about Danault's career is that he shows you don't have to be a superstar at 20 to become a really valuable NHL player. His career developed gradually. He found his role, got better at it and eventually became one of the better defensive centres in the league. That's not a bad career path at all. You don't always have to become the player who scores the most goals. Sometimes becoming the player a coach trusts the most is just as valuable.

And that's where Danault's legacy in Montreal stands out to me. He made a difference without needing the spotlight. He was the kind of player who could make a good team better simply by taking some of the hard work off everybody else's plate. Those players aren't always the easiest to appreciate when you're watching the standings or looking at a box score. But after they've left, you sometimes realize just how much they were doing.