Kirby Dach Needs to Finally Cement Role With Canadiens or Be Replaced

The Montreal Canadiens began a rebuild when Kent Hughes was hired as their general manager on Jan. 18, 2022. Interestingly, instead of just adding as many future draft picks as possible, he also focused on bringing in young players that can help expedite the building process.

One of the first additions Hughes made was the acquisition of Kirby Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a two-part deal that saw him ship out promising young defenceman Alexander Romanov for the 13th-overall draft pick in the 2022 Draft. Instead of using the pick as most rebuilding teams would, Hughes quickly flipped it, along with a third-round pick, for Dach. He essentially moved Romanov for Dach, with some extra draft picks thrown in to sweeten the deal. His thinking was that it would be easier to replace a rugged left defenceman than it would be to find another big top-six centre.

Dach had been drafted third overall just three years previous to the trade. He was advertised as a 6-foot-4 and 220-pound right-shooting centre with great hands and promising offensive ability. Injuries had slowed his development with the Blackhawks as he missed time in each of his three seasons with a concussion, fractured wrist and sprained shoulder.

Yet, he arrived in Montreal with the promise to be a second-line centre. Fast forward four years and he has not established that role with the Canadiens. Or any role at all. He is still a big, skilled centre who is 25 years old, so where exactly does he fit in 2026-27 with the team now trying to contend for a Stanley Cup?

Winger For Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield

Dach played his best stretch of hockey with the Canadiens during his first season in Montreal. He was given time early in the year to play centre, but really broke out offensively and showed what he could become when he was moved to the wing on the first line.

That put him on the ice with the team’s two best offensive players, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Dach was able to use his size to forecheck, win puck battles in the corners, and demonstrate tremendous playmaking ability. He closed out the 2022-23 season with nine goals and six assists for 15 points in his final 19 games. Unfortunately, he missed the team’s last eight games of the season with an upper-body injury.

In an ideal scenario for the Canadiens, Dach would be able to rediscover this ability and jump back onto the top line. This would allow Juraj Slafkovsky to move down to the second line with Ivan Demidov as he did for a portion of last season, and the two young wingers found immediate chemistry. This seems unlikely, given Dach has not been able to find that level of offence since.

Second-Line Centre He Was Expected To Be

The Canadiens brought Dach in to be a second-line centre and that role is yet to be filled on the team. Demidov will play a prominent role on that line, but the other second-line slots are written in pencil at this point. Alex Newhook seems likely to play on this trio somewhere, but that could be at centre or on left wing. Oliver Kapanen had a strong first half of last season as a rookie but faltered down the stretch and was a frequent healthy scratch in the playoffs.

Could Dach finally step into the role that was envisioned for him when he arrived? That is where he started the 2023-24 season and had a pair of assists in the season opener while playing between Slafkovsky and Newhook. That didn’t last long as he tore his ACL and MCL after playing just four minutes in the second game of the season.

One drawback for him is his inability to improve in the faceoff dot. Dach’s faceoff percentages in his four seasons with the Canadiens are 38.3%, 37.5%, 40.3%, and 41.4%. It is difficult to see him holding down a role as a centre when he loses 60% of the faceoffs he takes.

Third Line Role

With Newhook and Demidov likely taking the roles as wingers on the second line, Dach is pushed further down the lineup. Fighting for time on the third line will be Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Texier, as well as centres Jake Evans and Phillip Danault. Dach is going to have his work cut out for him to try and beat out Bolduc and Texier for a spot on the third line.

Though Dach has an interesting package of size and skill, he had just eight goals and 15 points in 37 games last season. Bolduc scored 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games, is two years younger and showed a more tenacious, rugged style in the postseason, which gives him an edge over Dach heading into the new season. Texier also displayed an incredible ability to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone last season after signing with the Canadiens. That could make Bolduc, Danault and Texier an ideal shutdown line that forechecks, wins battles, cycles down low and keeps the puck away from the other team.

Dach also had a pair of ugly defensive plays in the playoffs that led to an overtime goal against. In order to play on the third line with Danault, a winger needs to be leaned on heavily in a defensive role, and that just doesn’t suit Dach’s style of play.

Fourth Line Winger Learning From Josh Anderson

Dach simply hasn’t shown enough consistent offence to play on the top line with Suzuki and Caufield or even the second line with Demidov. He is not an ideal fit with Danault either, as he would get the toughest defensive matchups. That likely leaves Dach on the fourth line with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson to start the season.

Evans is a centre who is great defensively, but won’t get the hardest matchups as that role will be filled by Danault. Anderson is a big winger who was thought to be a top-six forward when the Canadiens acquired him, but has found a depth role that suits him well. He plays on the fourth line, uses his size and speed to create turnovers and get in on opposing defenders on the forecheck. He provides some offence, scoring 14 goals last season, but it is not really expected of him, and is more of an added bonus when he finds the back of the net.

Playing on the same line as Anderson might be the perfect fit for Dach. After a couple seasons with the Canadiens, Anderson learned to stop trying to be a goal-scoring winger and just played straight-line hockey and hit every opponent in sight. At that time, he became a valuable member of the fourth line instead of a square peg trying to fit into a round hole on the top line. Dach had some impressive performances during the season when playing on the fourth line and, like Anderson, could turn that into his niche.

Dach Needs To Define Role For Himself

If Dach wants to continue his career with the Canadiens, he is going to have to learn the same lessons as Anderson. The initial four-year contract he signed after arriving in Montreal expired this summer, and he eventually signed a one-year deal that leads him to unrestricted free agency next summer. Cementing a role, any role, is required of Dach if he wants another contract from the Canadiens.

Another season bouncing up and down the lineup and averaging less than half a point per game is not going to lead to an extension. After four years with the Canadiens, it says a lot that Dach seems almost as likely to end the season on the first line as the fourth line. If he does not define a role for himself by season’s end, Michael Hage is going to arrive and push him even further down the lineup.

The Canadiens rebuild is not quite over yet. There are still holes to fill in the lineup. Whether that is the second-line centre spot or fourth-line winger role, Dach is going to have to make one of these his own this season. If he can, the Canadiens will be looking to re-sign him before he hits the open market next summer. If he remains a depth piece that fills in here and there all season, it will be his last in Montreal.