my guess is that Dach was super tentative coming back from injury. He probably didn’t want to get hurt again, so toned down his aggressivity.
Pre-season being what it is, and his success this pre-season probably gave him a false sense of confidence of being able to produce while playing a safer game.
As a result, he got into a habit of playing passive and tentative. But nhl comp is different than pre-season and Dach is playing catch up after developing bad habits.
He’s successful when he’s playing dangerously. That will open him up to injury which he’s probably looking to avoid and this is where we are at.