Canadiens Need Kirby Dach To Prove Himself Next Season After Knee Surgery

For some NHL players – mostly as a result of sheer bad luck – their best-laid career plans disintegrate because of consistent injuries. That’s what’s happening to Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach.

Kirby Dach holds down Dylan Duke (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)

The 24-year-old Dach’s season ended after undergoing knee surgery this week on the same knee he injured last season, when he appeared in only two games. Owen Beck slid onto the second line as Dach’s replacement.

This marks the second-straight season injuries ended Dach’s campaign, but injuries have affected him almost his entire NHL career. The way things developed for him this year, his career trajectory isn’t headed in a positive direction.

Before Dach’s injury this season, he played 57 games – almost identical to the 58 games he played for Montreal in 2022-23. But in the 2022-23 campaign, Dach had 14 goals and 38 points. This season, he generated only 10 goals and 22 points.

Some may note his individual numbers were down this year because his minutes were cut from an average of 18:30 two years ago to just 15:40 this season. But the Canadiens are a better, deeper team this season, so you can see why Habs coach Martin St-Louis cut back on Dach’s usage when the results weren’t coming in. Dach shifted often between the second, third and fourth lines.

Dach simply hasn’t played at the level you’d expect from a player drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. You can’t fault Montreal GM Kent Hughes if he goes out this summer and finds a player who can slot in as the Canadiens’ No. 2 center as a replacement for Dach. As it stands at the moment, Dach has slipped into “show, don’t tell” mode when it comes to asserting himself as a key piece of Montreal’s future.

Dach is under contract through next season at a salary cap hit of about $3.36 million. That’s a relatively cheap number for someone who should’ve played a more central role in the Canadiens’ blueprint for success. But after this latest injury, he could easily be pushed down Montreal’s depth chart until such time that he proves he can be relied on to handle the rigors of the regular season.

The Canadiens likely won’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs, so they can afford to continue to be patient with their young players. But when it comes to Dach, the time for patience is just about over. When he gets to training camp next fall, Dach will have a significant spotlight on him, which will stay there as he tries to demonstrate he can play a full NHL season. Thus far, in six seasons, the most he’s played in a single year has been 70 games in 2021-22, when he was a member of the Blackhawks.

We’re not here to dump on Dach. Whenever injuries prevent someone from competing, there’s an inherent sadness at play. That’s certainly true of Dach’s misfortune, and he remains a talented player who can always bounce back. But in the pro hockey business, if you’re consistently not contributing the way other players can, you’re eventually going to be faced with being bypassed in your team’s plans. It’s a cold-blooded business.

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