Montreal Canadiens: Phillip Danault’s Next Contract

It’s early, but the Montreal Canadiens will probably start working on a new deal for Phillip Danault soon who will become an RFA at the end of the season.

The Montreal Canadiens don’t really have any tough decisions coming up contract-wise. The majority of the core pieces are still signed for at least the next two seasons, which saves Marc Bergevin some serious headaches.

Looking at the Habs’ Capfriendly, there will be players coming off of entry-levels or one-year extensions. Michael McCarron, Jakub Jerabek, and Zachary Fucale to name a few fall into this area. Again, those decisions will be more, “Is there a future for you?”, opposed to, “How much should we give you?”.

Bergevin won’t be getting off that easy as Phillip Danault‘s two-year deal will be up at the end of the season. It’s still mind-boggling how the Montreal Canadiens acquired him, and how much he has improved since then. Turning Dale Weise and a signed PTO in Tomas Fleischmann into the Danault was nothing short of a steal for the Habs.

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So what will a new Danault contract with the Montreal Canadiens look like?

What Has Danault Become?

Let’s just call it as it is. Danault is a young NHL centerman who has yet to hit is ceiling. Last season was when he started to show what kind of player he can be. Danault at first played on the third line and was mostly used in defensive situations, such as the penalty kill. His ability to win faceoffs (51.7%) and read plays well helped him disrupt a lot of the opponent’s plays.

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We saw as the year went on, that Danault became even more responsible, and was beginning to use his hockey sense to generate scoring chances for his line mates. Once Claude Julien took over and warmed up to his commitment to both ends of the ice, he quickly fell in favour with management.

It also helped that at the time Alex Galchenyuk was struggling in the middle after recovering from his injury. The top-line assignments were given to Danault and for a lot of the time, he was the Habs top-line center playing with Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov.

With Jonathan Drouin in the fold, Danault will be playing on the second line. However, that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to grow and play effectively for the Habs. Last season he finished with 13 goals and 27 assists in 82 games. I believe that there’s more that Danault can do offensively, and playing with Galchenyuk could bring that out. In fact, if Galchenyuk scores 30 goals again, It shouldn’t surprise Habs fans if Danault is a big part of it.

Long-Term, Fair Hit

Figuring out the term of the contract is the easiest to predict. Save for Carey Price, Bergevin doesn’t hand out eight-year deals. That was the hill that he was willing to die on during the Radulov negotiations. Additionally, both Drouin and Alzner received six-year deals even though they’ll be important players on the team.

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It makes sense though, having too many players on max term deals could bite you in the end. Danault will most likely get six years in his next contract with Montreal.

The cap hit will be more difficult to narrow down. Because Danault is, and has proven to be, an effective NHL center, the price is already increased there. We’ll also have to account for Danault having a better year overall than last.

I think an AAV of $4.5 million will be great value for both sides. It puts him beneath Drouin and Galchenyuk in salary, but at the same time is a cap friendly deal and comparable to a lot of #2 centermen around the league.

Montreal can’t afford to break the bank with its players. They’ll need to make sure that they have room to re-sign Pacioretty and Artturi Lehkonen down the line. Even if the Habs are able to convince John Tavares to come aboard, they’ll have enough dollars coming off the books to make it work.

Next: Can Galchenyuk Score 30 on the Wing?

What do you think Danault’s next contract with the Montreal Canadiens will look like? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!