by Sam Gerber, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

After scoring just two goals in the first 36 games of the season, Phillip Danault ended an 11-game drought by registering his first career hat trick in the NHL against the Vegas Golden Knights. In an odd twist, Danault was also on the ice for all three Vegas goals and felt personally responsible for the first two.

Read the full game report here: Habs Find OT Magic in Vegas

So who is the real Phillip Danault?

Danault, along with a second round pick (Alexander Romanov) was acquired by Montreal on February 26th, 2016 in exchange for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. Habs general manager Marc Bergevin was happy with his acquisition, saying, “As a member of the Blackhawks management group, I was instrumental in the selection of Phillip (Danault) in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft.”

Bergevin went on to say, “Phillip Danault is a young and gifted player who will be part of our core group of young forwards for many years to come. I am very pleased to have him join our organization.”

Danault had five points in 30 games as a Blackhawk before the trade playing in a bottom six role with limited ice time. With the Canadiens, Danault finished the 2015-16 season with just five points in 21 games playing primarily on the third line.

In 2016-17, Danault played in a top six role given that the Canadiens lacked a legitimate number one centre. Danault blossomed in a larger role and put up 40 points. While not the statistics of a top centre, Danault could be proud of his accomplishment in his first full season in the NHL. 

Danault’s sophomore season was interrupted by injuries, particularly a concussion sustained by taking a shot to the helmet against the Boston Bruins. Limited to playing 52 games, Danault had eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points. 

This year, without a true number one centre, Danault has assumed the role playing between Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher. The two wingers generate the offence of the line combining for 27 goals. Danault is the third most-used forward by Claude Julien with an average ice time of 17:34 per game.

Typically, a team’s top line centre would be found on the power-play but Danault is averaging just 18 seconds of power-play time per game. Despite the appearances of his three goals against Vegas, Danault is not a skilled offensive player nor a natural shooter.

Danault is being groomed as a two-way centre and it is hoped that someday his defensive game will develop to the point that he can play a role similar to Tomas Plekanec. It is still a work in progress as his defensive numbers place him midway on the team.

Danault is a fixture on the Canadiens penalty-kill leading all Montreal forwards with an average ice time of 2:30 per game while short-handed. The Habs struggling penalty-kill ranks 24th in the league with a success rate of 77.5 per cent.

As the top centre, Danault ranks second in faceoffs wins at 51.6 per cent. The fact that he is one of the Habs best says more about the team than the player. Montreal is the worst team in the league at faceoffs with a 47.1 success rate. 

Danault does not play a physical game, averaging just one hit per game. One might expect a defensively-minded forward to be contributing more than 0.7 blocked shots per game. And a strong two-way player should not be at the top of the giveaway list for forwards with Max Domi.

If Plekanec is indeed the role model for Danault, he isn’t close in any respect at this point. Danault needs to become much better at the faceoff dot, improve his defensive game while reducing his giveaways and increasing his takeaway numbers. And his offensive numbers need a boost too.

To improve play in his own zone and on the penalty kill, Danault must have an active stick, make better decisions and become stronger to win more puck battles. He needs to better use his speed as well.

This year Danault is near his career shooting average with 8.1 per cent. He will never be a consistent scoring threat but can effectively distribute the puck. 

For Danault, the next two years of his career are crucial. He is signed through 2020-’21 and will be 28 at that time, in the prime of his career. He can effectively contribute to the Canadiens if he is able to maximize his skills to become a dependable, defensive-minded, third-line centre.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been sheltered so far by coach Julien but it is only a matter of time until he assumes the role of top line centre. The switch from first line to third line should make Danault more comfortable, and allow him to improve his defensive game.

But what is on the horizon for Danault? It is obvious that management thinks highly of him, however, the Canadiens have a number of young center prospects with a much higher ceiling. In addition to Kotkaniemi, the Habs have Nick Suzuki, Ryan Poehling, Jacob Olofsson, Joni Ikonen, Cam Hillis, and Jake Evans in the pipeline. 

At this point Danault is in the driver’s seat. He has the confidence of the organization. But he must start soon making dramatic improvements to his offensive and defensive games. A hat-trick in Vegas was a nice start.