Player Discussion Kirby Dach: Welcome to Montreal part 2

[Estimated_Prophet]

Dach was never going to be what he was pre-injury until the end of this season. No one seriously suggested that it was reasonable to think otherwise. We are 25 games in. Dach is not back to his pre-injury performance yet. I am actually surprised he looks this good this early. His skating looks good. He doesn't seem afraid of contact (re-injury). He's showing flashes of great vsion. What expectations exactly is he not living up to?

I have been defending him as much or more than anyone from a need to be patient standpoint but his vision has been non existent and his skating is very clearly not where it was at.

He has been the worst player on the team by a mile and has not had a single game that I would even call good. His effort has sucked at times too and he is the primary reason that his line constantly gets hemmed in the defensive zone.

Hopefully the energy surrounding Laine's arrival can breathe some life into his game as he is AHL material so far this year.

He showed too much before the injury for the ridiculous comments about him being a bust and that we need to trade him. I think he can get back to where he was but it is just going to be an ugly ride to get there.

I only saw the first two periods but I didn't see a lost cause. That one play to Slaf while he was falling was dynamite. It seems like it'll just take time. Seems like he's been improving which at the end of the day is what matters.

That line was pretty fun and I don't think any of them are playing their best. Give them some time and they could easily be a 1b or even a 1a line.

That was a nice pass but he was beyond bad for the rest of the game.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Dach played really well this game, you can see the chemistry building with Laine. I think that line is gonna be deadly with more time together.

 

[Retired]

Dach played really well this game, you can see the chemistry building with Laine. I think that line is gonna be deadly with more time together.

Disagree, get Slaf and Laine a real center, as fun as it is to have such a big line. I remember one flashy pass he made, and otherwise he’s still 2024 Dach.

He’ll get infinite free passes so whatever.

 

[Tyson]

Disagree, get Slaf and Laine a real center, as fun as it is to have such a big line. I remember one flashy pass he made, and otherwise he’s still 2024 Dach.

He’ll get infinite free passes so whatever.

What i noticed last night is that Kirby's a step slower than he was 2 seasons ago, hopefully he gets that step back, if not....he will not be top 6 or even top 9 material.

 

[Artaud]

Laine coming back and making an impact on day 1 while visibly hobbled really discredits the injury excuse spewed over and over in this thread.

There are alarming signals pointing to the fact that Dach is a lazy guy. Low effort on the ice, came into the season out of shape, bad body language.

He finally got benched last game. I can only explain the lack of punishing usage/benching by orders from management. They want to save face because that trade is looking like a pretty big miss : Nazar is killing the AHL.

Dach for Nazar and Reinbacher instead of Michkov are trending to be the first two major whiffs by this regime.

 

[Tabarouette]

Laine coming back and making an impact on day 1 while visibly hobbled really discredits the injury excuse spewed over and over in this thread.

There are alarming signals pointing to the fact that Dach is a lazy guy. Low effort on the ice, came into the season out of shape, bad body language.

He finally got benched last game. I can only explain the lack of punishing usage/benching by orders from management. They want to save face because that trade is looking like a pretty big miss : Nazar is killing the AHL.

Dach for Nazar and Reinbacher instead of Michkov are trending to be the first two major whiffs by this regime.

Not everyone heals the same and injuries are all different but MAN, as I was joking in the other thread, disastrous couple of nights for the Dach defense force

Talented players usually show signs of what they're capable of through rough spots and Dach is not doing that whatsoever, or maybe he is and we have a hard pill to swallow

 

[ReHabs]

Not everyone heals the same and injuries are all different but MAN, as I was joking in the other thread, disastrous couple of nights for the Dach defense force

Talented players usually show signs of what they're capable of through rough spots and Dach is not doing that whatsoever, or maybe he is and we have a hard pill to swallow

Laine has shown his class in the past. So we know his high water mark (it’s very very high). Class is permanent. An old Kovalchuk and Perry showed flashes of brilliance for us. Even Monahan has shown that raw talent shines through a lot of times.

Dach hasn’t shown significant talent in the NHL, so who knows what’s in store for him or for us. Maybe he’ll surprise (good), maybe he’ll surprise (bad)

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

I have been defending him as much or more than anyone from a need to be patient standpoint but his vision has been non existent and his skating is very clearly not where it was at.

He has been the worst player on the team by a mile and has not had a single game that I would even call good. His effort has sucked at times too and he is the primary reason that his line constantly gets hemmed in the defensive zone.

Hopefully the energy surrounding Laine's arrival can breathe some life into his game as he is AHL material so far this year.

He showed too much before the injury for the ridiculous comments about him being a bust and that we need to trade him. I think he can get back to where he was but it is just going to be an ugly ride to get there.



That was a nice pass but he was beyond bad for the rest of the game.

I saw the first two periods and I think he’s pretty stiff. I saw him make at least one nice back check. I don’t think I saw any lack of effort. I think his turning radius in his skating is really wide now too. I could be wrong there.

I think once the skating comes back, he’ll be fine. I didn’t think he was awful but not quite himself

 

[The Last Red]

Didn’t see the ice after his bad penalty in the 3rd. Message from MSL?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Didn’t see the ice after his bad penalty in the 3rd. Message from MSL?

MSL can only send messages to Slaf, Dach and Xhekaj. If Matheson or Dvorak cost us entire games, rather than just small mistakes, they get PP1, 5-on-3 and 3-on-3 time.

 

[vokiel]

Dach played really well this game, you can see the chemistry building with Laine. I think that line is gonna be deadly with more time together.

What I found noticeable enough to be remembered:
- That pass he made while diving on the ice, or loosely losing footing with nothing as an explanation except ice quality maybe.
- The failed fore-checking attempt towards the end of the 3rd period, where he had a brain fart, put himself in a vulnerable position and got pounded by Forsberg.
- He was benched after that hit, and we all thought he might have been injured. Didn't seem so, Newhook ended the game with Laine & Slaf.

Other observations:
- He still seems to be somewhat confused as to what portions of the ice he needs to cover in which zone.
- The above leads to him being starved in the shots column. It was another 0 night for him.
- He seemed to progress towards a 50% ratio on face-offs, but ended the evening at 40%
- His physical play still needs to be oriented towards achieving something, although last night he had 0 hits.

 

[Kosseca]

Not sure if this was reported here, but Mathias Brunet stated that Dach came to camp out of shape, like really out of shape. It wasn't him speculating, he was reporting something he got from a source within the organization. Now we all saw that does not have the same skating speed as before and that it could (should) be link to the injury, but him not being in shape wont help him perform either.

So... lots of work for Dach ahead.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Not sure if this was reported here, but Mathias Brunet stated that Dach came to camp out of shape, like really out of shape. It wasn't him speculating, he was reporting something he got from a source within the organization. Now we all saw that does not have the same skating speed as before and that it could (should) be link to the injury, but him not being in shape wont help him perform either.

So... lots of work for Dach ahead.

It doesn't surprise me; he couldn't skate for a long period of time and maybe got into a bit of a depression that manifested itself in slipping on eating, professionalism etc.

 

[Kosseca]

It doesn't surprise me; he couldn't skate for a long period of time and maybe got into a bit of a depression that manifested itself in slipping on eating, professionalism etc.

Yeah, I get it too. That just mean that the version of Dach we have right now is very far from the one that was playing in the 2023 training camp. So, people shouldn't give up on him but at the same time Dach as to do the work to get back to where he was over a year ago now.

 

[Natey]

It doesn't surprise me; he couldn't skate for a long period of time and maybe got into a bit of a depression that manifested itself in slipping on eating, professionalism etc.

Yeah, it's insane the amount of people who aren't willing to give Dach the year to get his groove back.

Then again ... it was 3 months ago that a massive amount of people here thought we should waive Jake Evans.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Yeah, it's insane the amount of people who aren't willing to give Dach the year to get his groove back.

Then again ... it was 3 months ago that a massive amount of people here thought we should waive Jake Evans.

Wasn't a good enough 4C.. lol, good times.

 

[dauv]

What i noticed last night is that Kirby's a step slower than he was 2 seasons ago, hopefully he gets that step back, if not....he will not be top 6 or even top 9 material.

I don't think it's that he a step slow (he might be) but to me, he seems to not want it enough, is it a case of he's afraid of getting hurt again or completely deflated from all the injuries and missed time.

I really think it's a mental thing with Dach. At least Thats what I hope because he is a talented young player.

 

[Sorinth]

I don't think it's that he a step slow (he might be) but to me, he seems to not want it enough, is it a case of he's afraid of getting hurt again or completely deflated from all the injuries and missed time.

I really think it's a mental thing with Dach. At least Thats what I hope because he is a talented young player.

It's just as, if not more likely that the hesitation you are seeing as afraid to get hurt is actually afraid to make a mistake. Regardless, hesitation at the NHL level is a death sentence, the game is just too fast, and more often then not is just going to lead to the very thing you are afraid of happening.

 

[The Real Timo]

Disagree, get Slaf and Laine a real center, as fun as it is to have such a big line. I remember one flashy pass he made, and otherwise he’s still 2024 Dach.

He’ll get infinite free passes so whatever.

Agree with your "disagree". Dach looked not good even with Laine and the Talked To Slaf. Perhaps Kenny can take him for a walk next. He was a bad trade and perhaps... the glimpses of good play we saw from him before he got injured were the exception and what we are seeing now is the rule. I am a very positive and optimistic person by nature, but even I start to think that Dach may just be a bad played and Hughes has been had on that trade.

 

[overlords]

Not sure if this was reported here, but Mathias Brunet stated that Dach came to camp out of shape, like really out of shape. It wasn't him speculating, he was reporting something he got from a source within the organization. Now we all saw that does not have the same skating speed as before and that it could (should) be link to the injury, but him not being in shape wont help him perform either.

So... lots of work for Dach ahead.

some of us aren't here naming all the fat players only because it's funny. We're reporting hard (soft?) facts.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Dach needs to engage more physically. His game is better when he has a bee in his bonnet, which is very rare... maybe they should put a bee in his cup or something.

 

[Andy]

Not sure if this was reported here, but Mathias Brunet stated that Dach came to camp out of shape, like really out of shape. It wasn't him speculating, he was reporting something he got from a source within the organization. Now we all saw that does not have the same skating speed as before and that it could (should) be link to the injury, but him not being in shape wont help him perform either.

So... lots of work for Dach ahead.

Makes sense. I did comment to myself at the begining of camp that Dach looked chubbier than the previous year, and chubby for an athlete.

Someone said his skating radius is really wide right now, I would agree.

His fluidity and first step are pretty terrible right now. Quite the opposite of how he skated in his first season with the habs.

 

[Andrei79]

Not sure if this was reported here, but Mathias Brunet stated that Dach came to camp out of shape, like really out of shape. It wasn't him speculating, he was reporting something he got from a source within the organization. Now we all saw that does not have the same skating speed as before and that it could (should) be link to the injury, but him not being in shape wont help him perform either.

So... lots of work for Dach ahead.

That would make a lot of sense. He looks puffy.

If that's the case I can't really defend him or defer to the injury.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Laine coming back and making an impact on day 1 while visibly hobbled really discredits the injury excuse spewed over and over in this thread.

There are alarming signals pointing to the fact that Dach is a lazy guy. Low effort on the ice, came into the season out of shape, bad body language.

He finally got benched last game. I can only explain the lack of punishing usage/benching by orders from management. They want to save face because that trade is looking like a pretty big miss : Nazar is killing the AHL.

Dach for Nazar and Reinbacher instead of Michkov are trending to be the first two major whiffs by this regime.

I don’t think it was a whiff on the Dach trade. He clearly showed he was worth trading for. You can’t predict injuries.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

His line created a lot of scoring chances last game. Just a matter of time before he starts producing and get his confidence back.