Montreal Canadiens acquire Phillip Danault from Los Angeles Kings

Saturday, December 20, 2025 ,

The Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens were rumored to be involved in trade talks for weeks, and late Friday night, the two teams finally pulled off the speculated deal. The Kings shipped two-way center Phillip Danault back to the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick.

The Kings receive the draft pick which was originally acquired by the Canadiens from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Meanwhile Danault heads back to Montreal where he began his career, and looks to hit the reset button on his season.

Danault spent 2016-2021 in Montreal, helping the team head to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, but unfortunately this season has been a write off for the veteran center. He's posted just five assists in 30 games this season and has yet to put one past the goalie.

Danault is signed through next season at $5.5 million, and while he had trade protection on his contract, heading back to Montreal, where he had so much success, was a no brainer. The Kings shed some serious salary in the move and now with another draft pick in the cupboard, can get creative ahead of the trade deadline.

The Canadiens were in the market for help down the middle and have been linked to Danault for weeks. There were also talks of Ryan O'Reilly out of Nashville, but he's made it clear to GM Barry Trotz he's not interested in leaving the Predators.

As for Danault, his best season came back in 2022-23 when he scored 54 points, but in Montreal this season and next, they aren't concerned about that. As long as he can chip in with secondary scoring and more importantly, shut down opposing top lines and take pressure off Nick Suzuki's line, everyone will be satisfied.

A second round pick for a player with zero goals, did the Canadiens overpay?

Photo credit: Bob Lee, Imagn Images

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