The Montreal Canadiens lost forward Kirby Dach for the entire season last year to an ACL injury. While it was never going to be a Stanley Cup season for the Habs, it was a disappointing loss for both team and player. Dach inked a four-year deal and lost the entire first year of that deal because of the injury. He spoke with NHL.com about returning to the ice for the first time in 11 months.
“I’m definitely looking still to take steps personally and making sure that I feel good and confident in my game,” The Canadiens’ forward said, “and can get it back to a place where I felt it was last year and keep taking steps from that.”
In their first pre-season game, the Canadiens will roll Dach out with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook. “As a line, I think just building chemistry and working together and being in these games now against other teams you’re going to start to find spacing with each other and where each other is going to be on the ice.”
Can Dach and Laine combine to take the Canadiens to an unexpected playoff run?
Kirby Dach must lift Canadiens for a playoff berth
The Atlantic Division is stacked with past champions and title hopefuls. The Lightning, Panthers, Bruins, and Maple Leafs all expect to make the playoffs again. That makes it difficult for the up-and-coming teams in the division to sneak into the playoffs. That includes the Canadiens, who have not made the postseason since their Cup Final run in 2021.
The path to making the playoffs is dominating in their division. If they can win the season series against two or three of those teams, they will take a step forward to edging one out in the standings. While that sounds easy on paper, these are four of the best teams in the league. The Canadiens must get great seasons out of Nick Suzuki, Laine, and Dach to make that happen.
Having two young centers who can be star players is crucial to beating division opponents in the regular season. Suzuki and Dach can be that. Going up against Auston Matthews and John Tavares or Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett will be difficult but they must step up to that challenge. If they can’t, that will be a lot of years and money wasted on players who cannot carry the weight.
Eyes should be on the Canadiens in the preseason to see how the players gel together in their first game. Fans should also watch Dach to see if he has his speed back after his ACL injury.
