‘I Had No Purpose’: Danault Speaks For The First Time Since Trade From The Kings

It’s been almost a week since the Los Angeles Kings traded Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens. Both sides have moved on, and Danault made his season debut for the Canadiens on Tuesday.

Ahead of Danault’s return to Montreal, he spoke to the media for the first time since the trade went down.

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The 32-year-old veteran did not mince his words when describing his time with the Kings and what ultimately led up to the trade.

“I felt like I had no purpose and that I couldn’t bring anything to the team with what I had,” Danault said to reporters in French. “I felt helpless and not important. That’s how I felt at the end.”

This was all before the Habs faced the Boston Bruins. Montreal beat its Atlantic Division rivals 6-2 in Danault’s first game back.

In terms of the former Kings’ performance, he didn’t get his name on the scoresheet.

Danault centered Montreal’s third line, with Alexandre Texier on his left wing and Josh Anderson on his right. He finished the contest with 24 shifts and 15:29 of ice time. With Los Angeles earlier this season, he averaged 16:19 of ice time, 50 seconds more than he played on Tuesday.

The Victoriaville, Que., native is still looking for his first goal of the season. He has five assists in 31 appearances this season.

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In his five seasons with the Canadiens before joining the Kings as a free agent, he played 360 games, scoring 54 goals and 194 points. He also registered a plus-47 rating and averaged 16:53 of ice time in his first stint with the Habs.

‘A Lot Of Hard Feelings’: NHL Insider Talks Messy Departure For Danault And The Kings Phillip Danault is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Kings, as he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. But details about a messy and intense departure are coming out in the aftermath.

Danault costs $5.5 million against Montreal’s salary cap and is the sixth-highest-paid forward on the roster in terms of average annual value for this campaign. He has one more year on his current contract after this season.

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