A Winning Habit
Fansided

Is Shea Weber’s impact being overlooked on the Montreal Canadiens?

By Omar L

SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 28: Tomas Tatar #90 celebrates his second goal of the game with Shea Weber #6, Jonathan Drouin #92, and Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on December 28, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. Montreal defeated Florida 5-3. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 28: Tomas Tatar #90 celebrates his second goal of the game with Shea Weber #6, Jonathan Drouin #92, and Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on December 28, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. Montreal defeated Florida 5-3. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 22: Montreal Canadiens Shea Weber (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Omar White: If anyone needed a night to score a bunch of goals, it was Danault. The 25-year-old hadn’t scored since Shea Weber‘s debut, and it didn’t stand out too much given the production from his linemates. But the cloud of pessimism around Danault began to arise when the Montreal Canadiens 5v5 scoring took a hit for a couple of games.

Confidence-wise, it was a great thing for Danault. Everyone needs a game of production, and although he isn’t the go-to offensive guy, there is some underlying skill within his frame. The thing is, it’s his role on the team that limits how much can be brought out at a time. I’m not saying there’s an inner Connor McDavid hidden within Danault, but the Habs, and most importantly Claude Julien, rely on him to be a key defensive player.

That entails winning faceoffs, being safe in the neutral zone, and getting the puck to Gallagher and Tatar. His role isn’t to go out and score goals; it’s to ensure goals aren’t scored.

You can look back at Danault’s track record for the second part of this question. He put up first-round worthy numbers in the QMJHL with the Victoriaville Tigres scoring 67 in 64 in his draft year and 71 in 62 the season after. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to bring that over to the professional realm of hockey.

Danault had 6 goals and 20 assists in 72 games with the Rockford IceHogs and improved to 38 in 70 in the 2014/15 season that also saw him make his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks. Not much to build off of. He’s put up the most numbers in his time in Montreal, and it’s unlikely he’ll do more than that.

Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a bad thing. As I said, Danault has tools. Think of his first of three goals. That one-timer is quick and accurate and has been used by the centre several times. Additionally, we can’t forget about his end-to-end goal against the Winnipeg Jets.

Danault may not put up ‘number one centre’ numbers, but he has the potential to have another 40-point year, especially if his line continues to do well.

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