Center #2: bad news on Kirby Dach revives debate

Dose
Crédit: Kirby Dach skates during Montreal Canadiens vs New York Islanders game.

This morning, our colleague Maxime Truman broke the news that Kirby Dach is still recovering from his knee injury, which means that his active participation in training camp as a healthy player is in jeopardy. Dach is training in Edmonton this summer, far from Montreal.

There’s a chance Dach won’t be ready to play in October, which is a step back from the predictions at the start of his injury. There’s also a chance he’ll be able to play, but not in a top-6 role. In other words? Whatever the reason, there’s a good chance he won’t be the club’s #2 center at the start of the year. We already knew there was a good chance someone other than Dach would be the club’s #2 center at the start of the season. So the debate is back on: who will be the club’s #2 center, behind Nick Suzuki, on October 8 in Toronto? content-ads]We’ll take it for granted that Ivan Demidov will play on the wing on the second line.I don’t think Martin St-Louis will ask the Québécois to start the season at center, although that’s not completely impossible either.

If we go to the club’s “natural” center players, the options are slim. Joe Veleno and Jake Evans have more of a bottom-6 profile than a second-line center. And I don’t think an Oliver Kapanen or Owen Beck would make the club in such a high chair. Sorry, Grant[content-ads]All the scenarios that have been named are plausible. But we agree that if Dach isn’t healthy on October 8, the player most likely to occupy that chair is Alex Newhook. Until proven otherwise, that’s where he finished the year. The problem? Newhook wasn’t the one who best complemented Ivan Demidov at the end of the year.If Newhook had made plays like that more often, Demidov would have had more points in seven games in North America:

Is it possible to see Kent Hughes move? It’s possible, as he’s already moved in August in the past to get reinforcements for the Canadiens. But don’t be surprised if Newhook has a big role (second center) at the start of the 2025-2026 season, regardless. If so, Newhook will have to take advantage of it. After two seasons in Montreal, he hasn’t shown that he’s indispensable, and more and more youngsters will be pushing his buttons to take his place, so if he gets an audition, he’d better not miss out. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- Still.

– Indeed.

– Of note.

– Interesting.

– He’s not small.