Ken Holland on Phillip Danault: “We got the best deal possible.”

Marc-Olivier Cook
Ken Holland on Phillip Danault: “We got the best deal possible.”
Credit: Screenshot / X

The Kings traded Phillip Danault (to the Canadiens) for a second-round pick.

Basically, the Kings' return surprised me a little… because the Los Angeles team was primarily interested in getting their hands on a player who could help right away. That didn't happen.

And according to Ken Holland… it's not because the Kings wanted to take a different path in the end.

In a post-trade press conference with the media, the team's GM said he saw the Canadiens' offer as the best possible scenario for the Kings. He mentioned that the club was satisfied with the turn of events.

Ideally, we wanted a position player. Centers are hard to come by, and in the end, we felt the deal we struck was the best possible. – Ken Holland

TVA Sports also wrote an article on the subject.

Ken Holland had no choice but to say that.

He wasn't going to openly say that the Kings were disappointed in Danault's return… because that wouldn't have gone over well with the fans. And it would have sounded a bit crazy too.

My impression is that the Kings GM simply didn't get the price he wanted in the first place, and turned to the Canadiens to close the deal. Everyone knew that Danault wanted to be traded (hello, Allan Walsh) and everyone knew that the Québécois' situation in Los Angeles was becoming a little bizarre.

That said, it's all very well for the Kings to say they're happy to have received a second-round pick… but it's definitely not what Los Angeles wanted in the first place.

And perhaps it also shows that the market wasn't super huge for Danault either.

Because if Holland considers that he got the best offer with a second-round pick for a center with NHL experience… that's saying a lot.


Overtime

– Yeah.

– They're happy.

– Hehe.

– Happy birthday.

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