Montreal Canadiens acquire Phillip Danault from Los Angeles Kings

THE Los Angeles Kings traded center Phillip Danault just before the NHL’s roster freeze takes effect at midnight ET for the Christmas holiday.

Los Angeles received a second-round pick in 2026 among the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Danault. The second round pick belongs to Columbus Blue Jacketswho are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

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With this decision, Kings general manager Ken Holland removes Danault’s $5.5 million cap hit. The player still has one year left on his contract after this season, thus fulfilling his six-year ticket. Los Angeles now has $9.2 million in salary cap space following this agreement.

Additionally, the Kings now have two second-round picks in the 2026 draft.

This trade follows several reports, including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnetabout Danault and the Kings being ready to part ways.

Danault returns to his native province of Quebec for his reunion with the Habs. The 32-year-old played six seasons with Montreal.

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During these years, he played 360 matches for the club, scoring 54 goals and 194 points. He was also part of the Canadiens team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020-21.

With the Kings this season, Danault got off to a very slow start. In 30 appearances, he scored no goals and had five assists while averaging 16:19 of playing time per game, spending most of his time on the third line. Additionally, he missed the last four games due to illness.

Coming to the surface: Alex Turcotte and the Phillip Danault dilemma TAMPA BAY, FL – In a place that has been a house of horrors for the Los Angeles Kings, the team managed to pull out a 2-1 victory in sixty minutes of play, no more, no less, at Amalie Arena. For anyone following closely, this was the 23rd game this season for the Kings where the game was decided by a single goal. Cutting down on size, it was also the fourth straight game the Kings were without defensive stalwart Phillip Danault, who is battling the flu. In those four games, the Kings were outscored at even strength 8-4.

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The two-way shutdown center is finishing his tenure with the Kings after five seasons and 349 games. During this period, Danault scored 70 goals and 200 points.

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