After skating with the team Saturday morning, Phillip Danault will be joining the Montreal Canadiens on the road which could hint at his return.
Phillip Danault has been out of the lineup for nearly a month after the scary incident in the Boston Bruins game. He was diagnosed with a concussion but recently been skating by himself head of team practice. However, after joining the Montreal Canadiens for their morning skate ahead of their game against the Nashville Predators, Danault’s return to the lineup could be coming up soon.
Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweeted out that Danault could join the team on their road trip next week. The Habs will be away from the Bell Centre for four games starting with the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. It would be great to see the 24-year-old after missing the last 12 games.
Andrew Shaw and Shea Weber are still skating solo, and there’s no word on where they’re at specifically in their recovery. Danault coming back would have to bring Claude Julien back to the whiteboard. The easiest move would be to move Paul Byron back to the wing and possibly have Danault with him and Max Pacioretty.
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Another move, if Julien wants to keep Byron at centre, is slotting Danault in on the fourth line could be an option. It would be a good way to ease him back into the lineup at first to see how he’s keeping up. If everything goes well, then he jumps lines during the game, but that may be a good place to start with Danault.
At the same time, the Habs may hold off on his return until the Trade Deadline passes. Tomas Plekanec seems to be the only player guaranteed to be moved between now and February 26th. A draft pick will most likely be the main ticket coming back and the veteran being traded frees up a spot for Danault to come back.
The Quebec native is still a pending restricted free agent at the end of the season. Management may already have an idea of what they want to give Danault, but playing a few more games could add a couple more dollars or even an extra year to his future deal.
Next: Trade Interest From Pittsburgh and San Jose
Will Danault play next week? Is he Plekanec’s replacement once he’s dealt? Let us know what you think down below.