Phillip Danault rejected a significant contract offer from the Canadiens.

Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault has found himself in the headlines as of late for very good reasons, but this latest bit of news may not go over so well with fans of his current team.

A report from Mathias Brunet of La Presse this week revealed that the Canadiens, and more specifically general manager Marc Bergevin, had made Danault a substantial contract offer in the offseason. In fact according to Brunet Danault had been the second player to receive such an offer from the Canadiens, suggesting that after the Habs had gotten defenseman Jeff Petry under contract that they had offered Danault a deal prior to offering Brendan Gallagher the contract that he would eventually sign.

So what was the deal worth? Well according to the report Danault would have rejected a contract worth a whopping $30 million, that is to say a 6 year deal worth a reported $5 million in terms of the average annual value. Although Danault may not be a household name to the average NHL fan, it is clear that there are some around the league who have started to take notice of his solid two-way play. I suspect that Danault, knowing his potential, chose to bet on himself this season rather than sign a deal during a cap crunch for most teams with the hopes of earning a better deal at the end of the season when he will be an unrestricted free agent.

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon certainly believes in Danault, calling him an underrated player earlier in the week and even going so far as to say that the Habs centerman should receive consideration for the Selke Trophy. The Selke is an award given the the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game in a given year, and when you consider that recent winners include players like Sean Couturier and Patrice Bergeron, that is incredibly high praise from one of the NHL's top stars.

The most troubling part of the report for fans of the Canadiens is the fact that Danault's camp reportedly made no effort to counter offer after the Habs made their initial offer. That would appear to indicate to me that the player wishes to test free agency, but perhaps the Canadiens and Danault will find a way to get a deal done prior to free agency.