LeBrun: Can Phillip Danault shut down Connor McDavid?

EDMONTON — A year ago, it was Auston Matthews. Now, it’s Connor McDavid.

Phillip Danault certainly doesn’t back into his playoff assignments.

“I live for these challenges,’’ the Los Angeles Kings centre said after the morning skate Monday.

The next seven-to-12 days will be fascinating theatre in what arguably will be the most intriguing individual matchup of the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Danault coming off a postseason last year in which he helped shut down major offensive weapons in Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas.

“He was great in the role in all three series last year,” Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer said via text message Sunday. “Big key is his faceoffs. So important that they start with the puck versus offensive players. Sometimes takes you half the shift to get it back. Him and Kopitar will be an issue for Edmonton. (Danault) makes you work for time and space. All good players want it and he is a dog on a bone in taking it away. Very strong for his size.

“If the series is five-on-five and L.A. avoids penalties, it will be interesting how the two big guys handle it.”

The two big guys, of course, being McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the best one-two punch at centre in the NHL. The Kings will respond with Danault and former Selke Trophy winner Anze Kopitar.

A year ago at this time, Danault began his playoffs with another all-world challenge, trying to limit Matthews and Mitch Marner.

“Well, he takes a lot of pride in it,’’ former Montreal Canadiens linemate Brendan Gallagher told The Athletic Monday. “And if you remember that first-round series, Matthews and Marner the first couple of games, they had quite a few chances and that’s where we needed (Carey) Price. I think as the series went on, Phil just studies the game, he studies an opponent so well, and we had Webby (Shea Weber) on the ice as well, but Phil took so much pride in the job we had to do.

“We knew going into that series, if we were able to keep those guys off the scoresheet, our chances of winning went up drastically,” added Gallagher. “And that’s the same thing they’re going to have with Edmonton. Playing against Connor, he’s actually had some success with it in the past, so it’s going to be a good matchup and I know Phil will be excited for the challenge. … It’s intriguing.’’

What makes Danault so effective in his shutdown role?

“Well he’s really smart,” said Gallagher. “Obviously taking away time and space, and especially with a player like McDavid or a Matthews, you just can’t let them get going with the puck. Because once they get going, it’s too hard. It’s anticipating the play, it’s knowing when he’s going to get it, where he’s going to be when he gets it and being on top of him then. And maybe not letting him get to full speed as much and frustrating him.

“I mean, you’re talking about Connor, in most people’s minds you’re talking about the best player in the world. But when you’re talking about Phil, I don’t know if there’s many better shutdown centremen in terms of taking away that time and space and anticipating plays. He’s a 55 percent guy on faceoffs every year, he controls the play that way. He’s pretty dominant at his craft.’’

As DeBoer noted earlier, when Danault wins those key faceoffs, that’s half the battle in winning that shift against star offensive opponents.

“It’s a big difference in the game,” Danault said. “If you can win the faceoff, you start the first 10 seconds of the shift with the puck. That’s going to be important against Edmonton in this series, obviously.’’

How he ended up with the Kings, of course, has been well documented. He rejected a six-year, $30-million offer from the Habs back before last season, and well, that pretty much ended talks with Montreal. But it wasn’t just about the money. There was a sense that Danault would probably be transitioning into a third-line role with the Canadiens (behind Nick Suzuki and at the time, Jesperi Kotkaniemi) and he obviously didn’t see himself being that player.

Whatever the case, Danault believed in himself ahead of free agency and found not only a six-year, $33-million deal with the Kings, half a million more a year than what he was offered several months earlier by Montreal, but also was attracted to the kind of top-six role that awaited him in Los Angeles.

In short, he bet on himself and he was vindicated.

“I’m really proud of my decision, I’m proud that I trusted my gut on it,’’ he told me in French. “It was a big decision. I’m happy with the season I’ve had, I was really well received, really welcomed by the Kings. They’ve treated me great. The contract itself said a lot of how much they believed in me. They believed in me as much as I believed in myself. That’s what I needed in order to take that next step in my game.’’

And what a step that was. Danault exploded for a career-high 27 goals this season. Who saw that coming? He had five goals in 53 games with the Habs last season.

Talk about backing that new contract.

“You just wanted everyone to be happy,’’ said his old pal Gallagher, recalling how the contract stuff went down last year. “And Phil set his price and stuck to it, he knew what he was worth regardless of how many people maybe on the outside believed that. He felt like he had earned that opportunity. As a friend and as a teammate, you just wanted him to be happy.

“He’s found a great home there in L.A., I saw the other day he was voted team MVP, he’s taken on that challenge.’’

When Claude Julien was hired in February 2017 for a second tour of duty behind the Habs bench, Danault was halfway through his first full, 82-game season as an NHLer after playing partial seasons in Chicago.

It didn’t take long before Danault was picking Julien’s brain about a certain player the coach had in Boston.

“I know he’s always been a big fan of Patrice Bergeron’s,” Julien told The Athletic. “He kept asking me a lot of questions about him. He took a lot of pride in that part of his game. He wanted to be just like Patrice, that kind of player. So faceoffs became important for him and his two-way game.’’

Danault feels he’s clearly benefitted from being able to talk to Julien about Bergeron’s game.

“I mean, I’m not Patrice Bergeron, he’s at another level obviously,’’ Danault was quick to point out Monday. “But still to have the chance to try and model my game from him to some degree was my objective, in my own way. Again, we’re not the same player, he’s a class apart.

“But yes, I would ask Claude a few questions about Patrice and I got to know Patrice through Claude.’’

And credit to Julien who saw the kind of two-way game that could develop in Danault. He created a line with Gallagher and Tomas Tatar, centred by Danault, that had the most impact for the Habs for a few years.

“I told him at the time, ‘You’re a great two-way player. You should take pride in that.’ And he has, he really has,’’ said Julien, who will coach Canada in the upcoming world championship.

“And obviously this year he exploded more in the goal-scoring category. It was nice to see him have a good year like that. He’s a very coachable player.’’

So, what makes Danault so effective?

“His awareness, right?’’ said Julien. “He’s out there with those guys, he knows where they are at all times and he knows the minute they touch the puck he’s got to be there to get on them. He’s got a good comprehension of that role. Again, he’s tried to watch other players around the league who play that role.

“A lot of it is about pride.’’

(Photo of Connor McDavid and Phillip Danault: Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)