HIGHLIGHTS
- Friedman calls Danault’s Kings exit “not pretty” with hard feelings on both sides
- Danault’s role dropped to third line, scoring dried up completely this season
- Read below for details on why the situation deteriorated so quickly
The Phillip Danault trade got ugly behind the scenes, according to a prominent NHL insider.
Elliotte Friedman broke down Danault’s exit on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast, calling it ‘not pretty’ and saying there was real tension between Danault and the Kings.
“Yeah, it deteriorated really quickly in the end. I don’t know exactly what it was, but it escalated fast,” Friedman said. “I don’t know if he felt the system was limiting him, he’s never been overly fast but I just heard that it got really intense. Really intense. And really off the rails.”
If you have been following the Kings closely, you likely saw this coming. Danault started the season with top-line minutes, but after Quinton Byfield locked down the second center spot behind Anze Kopitar, Danault slid down to the third line.
His numbers fell off a cliff:
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 5
- Games Played: 30
The tipping point came when LA made Danault a healthy scratch for his last four games before the trade. For a guy who’s been as consistent as Danault throughout his career, that was a clear sign things were over.
Simply look at his shooting %. Danault’s percentage dipped to 6.5 percent last year and is now zero this season, following career highs. Something definitely became off in LA.
Friedman said GM Ken Holland was not happy with just a 2026 second-round pick. The Kings wanted another center back, but talks stalled out.
“I don’t think this is something that Ken Holland wanted to do, but I think it reached a point where he felt, ‘You know what, we have to do this,'” Friedman explained. “Because I just heard there were a lot of hard feelings there, on both sides.”
Danault walked away from Montreal in 2021 after contract talks fell apart. The Kings pounced on him in free agency, signing him to a six-year, $33 million contract. He was solid for most of his time in LA, putting up 70 goals and 130 assists in 349 games.
But this year, everything came undone. Whether it was the system, the decreased role, or something else entirely, the relationship deteriorated quickly.
Montreal now picks up a solid defensive center with leadership experience, even with that $5.5 million cap hit sticking around until 2026-27.
Danault will join the Habs on Tuesday night in Boston, closing the book on a Kings chapter that ended a lot messier than anyone expected.
