Photo credit: All Montreal Hockey / NHL
Phillip Danault looked fired up on Tuesday at TD Garden.
Acquired late last Friday, the center arrived quickly.
On Sunday, he boarded a flight to Montreal with his wife and their two young children, leaving Manhattan Beach to come back home in time for Christmas.
That’s where Nick Suzuki made a move that spoke volumes. The captain met Danault for dinner on Monday night, ahead of No. 24’s first game against the Bruins with the Canadiens.
The two have known each other well since 2021, but the dynamic has changed. Back then, Danault was 27, Suzuki was 21, and Danault carried most of the workload down the middle.
Nick Suzuki steps into his role as captain
Today, Suzuki is 26, wears the “C” on his jersey, and carries a contract that counts $7.875M against the salary cap. Danault, meanwhile, is 32 and will turn 33 in February. His contract carries a $5.5M cap hit, and he arrives with a stat that surprises everyone: zero goals in 30 games this season.
He has just five points, all assists, since the start of the year.
Tuesday morning at practice, there was a small moment that summed up the atmosphere. Danault held onto the puck on a two-on-one rush with Suzuki, he shot, and Jakub Dobes shut the door.
Suzuki then sent him a crisp pass, as if to say he had seen him. On the next shift, Danault kept the puck and scored, and Suzuki banged his stick to acknowledge it.
Cole Caufield and Suzuki scored, and the club finally breathed again before Christmas.
“I know exactly how his season’s been going, we talked about that,” Suzuki said. “He just wants a fresh start and he’s definitely going to get that here and play a big role for our team. So he’s excited about that and our future. He’s always going to be a guy I can go to. He’s got a lot of experience, he said he’s learned a lot over in L.A., too, so I’ll probably pick his brain about that too. It’s just great to have him back on the team.”
– Nick Suzuki
In the end, Danault did not just return to Montreal for familiarity-he came back for a reset. And if Tuesday night was any indication, that reset is already taking hold, both on the ice and inside the room.
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Nick Suzuki’s special gesture meant everything to Phillip Danault
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