While the Montreal Canadiens only spoke at 15th overall in the 2019 Draft and picked diminutive winger Cole Caufield, the Chicago Blackhawks used the third-overall pick to select a big center. Kirby Dach, a 6-foot-4 forward weighing 198 pounds at the time of drafting. Three drafts later though, the Blackhawks were ready to let go of their once prized prospect and Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was very pleased to take him off of their hands. Fast forward two years and the question has to be asked: is it time for the Canadiens to envision a future without Dach?
Dach’s Time in Chicago
Dach’s professional career didn’t start in the greatest manner. He sustained a concussion during the prospects’ tournament which kept him out of action for a whole month, and he was sent to the Rockford IceDogs on a conditional stint once he was ready to return. He only played three games in Rockford before being called up by the Blackhawks.
He then played 64 games in his first full season as a pro, gathering eight goals and 15 assists for a total of 23 points. While that was nothing to write home about, he did very well in the following playoffs, getting eight points over 10 games.
These playoffs looked like something he could have built on but by the end of October, the decision to loan Dach to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship had been taken, to the delight of all fans of the traditional holiday tournament. He was named Canada’s captain, but it didn’t come to be since he didn’t even make it to the official tournament, getting injured in a collision with a Russian player in an exhibition game between the two countries. That season, he would be limited to only 18 games which he picked up 10 points.
The following season was his healthiest in the NHL; Dach only missed 12 games because of a season-ending shoulder injury. Before that, he had time to play 70 games which saw him pick up 26 points, assorted with 43 penalty minutes and a minus-18 rating. This was the final drop in the bucket and Chicago decided to move on from their former third-overall pick. By then, Stan Bowman, who was the general manager when Dach was drafted, had given way to Kyle Davidson. Shortly before the 2022 Draft, the Blackhawks let it be known they wanted to trade the big center. The information didn’t fall on deaf ears and Canadiens’ GM Hughes came knocking.
Dach’s New Beginning in Montreal
Hughes wasted no time getting the necessary pieces to meet Davidson’s asking price. He sent fan favorite Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders for their first-round pick at the 2022 Draft which he then packaged with Montreal’s third-round pick and sent them to Chicago for the big center.
After negotiating a new four-year contract with the Canadiens, Dach was very excited to get going with his new beginning. He was limited to just 58 games, after suffering a lower-body injury. When he was cleared to return, he only lasted one week before suffering an upper-body injury which would end up keeping him out of action until the end of the season. While seeing his season cut short by yet another injury was worrying, at least he had set new career highs before having to call it quits.
In his three seasons in Chicago, his highest point total was 26 in 70 games. In Montreal, in just 58 games, he had produced 38 points in 58 games. His point-per-game average went from 0.37 in his last season with the Blackhawks to 0.66 P/G with the Canadiens. So there was a silver lining. Furthermore, Dach had shown himself to be more than capable of playing as the team’s second-line center.
Both he and the team started this season full of hope, Dach was expected to continue progressing and there was also a new forward in Alex Newhook to be excited about. In training camp, he developed instant chemistry with Juraj Slafkovsky, who was hoping his sophomore season would be longer than his rookie one. The Slovak stayed on his wing for most of training camp and started the season there alongside Newhook. The newcomer scored two goals in his first game with Montreal and Dach assisted on both. Even though the Canadiens lost 6-5 in the shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs, there was lots to be excited about.
But then, in game two, Dach was hit by former Hab Jared Tinordi who is now plying his trade with the Blackhawks, and right there and then, his season was over. The big center had damaged both his anterior cruciate ligament and his medial collateral ligament, meaning he needed season-ending surgery, but also faced a long rehabilitation process.
Unlucky or Brittle?
At this stage, who knows? It’s not like it’s the same injury over and over again, so it seems that he at least responds well to surgeries and treatment. This latest knee injury though is probably the biggest he has suffered and this upcoming season will be important for what’s to come. Can he handle the bumps and bruises of a hockey player’s life or are all the injuries a way for his body to say; it’s not working?
The problem is, in Hughes’ plan, Dach figured as a big piece of the puzzle and if that piece is faulty, well, the foundation can collapse on itself and send your rebuild back quite a ways. Can Hughes afford to wait and see if Dach has just been unlucky? I don’t believe he can. I’m not saying trade him now, with the injury history being how it is now, I doubt anyone would decide to gamble on Dach in any case. What I am saying though is plan for some alternatives.
There’s a big center in the next draft who could very well be available when the Canadiens get to the stage, he’s also 6-foot-4 and weighs in at 216 pounds. Perhaps they should give Cayden Lindstrom a very good long hard look. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Dach stays healthy and the Canadiens have got too many centers on their hands? What a tragedy that would be.
I know, the rule normally is to take the best player available, but sometimes, you’ve got to look at your organizational needs, especially when your organization has got a lopsided prospects cupboard bursting with defencemen but very light on top-six offensive talent.
Because of Dach’s health, Hughes cannot afford to do what he did last season and pick yet another defenseman. The situation has changed and the data has changed as well. A year later, he is looking at the very real possibility of having one less piece of the hardest part of the puzzle, the top-six. When he was hired, he said that in an ideal world, his Canadiens would be an offence-minded team, well Mr. Hughes, the ball is in your court.
