The Habs will give Kirby Dach every opportunity to produce

Dose
Crédit: Kirby Dach of Montreal Canadiens plays against Toronto Maple Leafs.

Kirby Dach’s situation is the talk of the town these days, with many questioning his health and hoping he’ll be ready for the start of the season. However, whether or not he starts the campaign, he needs to make sure he’s 100% physically and mentally, because as my colleague Marc-Olivier Cook wrote, this could be Dach’s last chance.

Despite some good flashes, the Alberta native has failed to produce consistently and establish himself as a top-6 forward with the Canadiens. Last season, which was cut short by injury, was particularly difficult for the 24-year-old center, who scored just 22 points, including 10 goals, in 57 games.

Worse, Dach finished with a minus-29 rating, and his struggles in his defensive zone often put the Habs in trouble. Now, the center is approaching the final year of his four-year, $13.45 million contract ($3,362,500 per year), and should he experience another difficult campaign, it could well be his last with the Habs.

However, as Brian Wilde says on The Sick Podcast, Dach could also benefit from a very favourable situation as the organization looks to maximize his chances of success.

[content-ads] We’re going to give him every opportunity to come through and be a good hockey player this year. Remember that the acquisition of Dach, in return for Alexander Romanov, was one of Kent Hughes’ first major transactions, and also one of his worst so far.

It’s safe to assume that the Habs won’t want to let Dach go for nothing at the end of the season, which leaves the club with two options: trade him or re-sign him. And in either case, to make it worthwhile, the Canadiens need to ensure that the center has a good season, ideally as the pivot of the second line. This should translate into time on the power play, quality wingers and offensive zone face-offs.

So if Kent Hughes and the organization want to make sure they don’t look too bad in the Dach trade, he should be given some good playing opportunities this season and it’ll be up to him to take advantage of them.

[spacer title=’Overtime’] – Alejandro Kirk puts the Jays on the scoreboard.

– Two-point home run for Marcus Semien.

– A little football.

– Record for the Valkiries.