Player Discussion Kirby Dach: Welcome to Montreal part 2

[bcv]

I was skeptical of Dach at the time of the trade because of his wrist injury and the output of last season, but I am pleasantly surprised and I've grown to like the player. You can see his skill level is off the charts.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Well in my case I did not like Romanov apart from his ability to hit the board. Never liked him in his zone, too many mistakes. He may grow out of it, sure, but I don't miss him. I like Dach so far, though I'm not sure of him as a centre, we will see about that.

Guhle and Xhekaj also make it pretty easy to get over Romanov, both can play the physical game but seem to have more range/upside overall.

 

[jiboy]

I am happy to have him , there is a ton to work with.

He has a bit of a weird body language and his penalty are sometimes selfish , plays too much on the perimeter on the PP but lately they are trying new stuff and hes been the shooter on a couple of their preset plays.

Fun to have a talented player to start with and hopefully they polish him

 

[tnq]

not impressed by Dach so far .

He’s doing okay , but weak ass shot and questionable passes too often .

I sometimes miss Romanov

We all want Ramonov on this team. But to have a quality, you must give out quality back. It is better than Drouin Sergachev trade.

 

[badfish]

Dach is currently on pace for 14G/42A/56P over 82 games in his D+4 season.

Some other players D+4 season pace:
Huberdeau: 11G/23A/32P
Dubois: 21G/36A/57P
Landeskog: 23G/36A/59P
Suzuki: 21G/38A/59P
Barkov: 28G/41A/69P
Toews: 26G/46A/72P
Duchene: 29G/45A/74P
Seguin: 38G/48A/86P

If you go by points, he is middle of the pack and his closest comparables are Dubois, Landeskog, and Suzuki.
If you go by assists, he is higher up and his closest comparables are Barkov, Toews, and Duchene

This is good company for a player to be with in his D+4 year.

He's currently 132 among forwards in points per game. That puts him healthily into the production profile of a second line player, which is great for a 21 year old.

If you want to do a value-for-production analysis, the players around him in terms of points per game are:

Bunting ($0.9M)
Toffoli ($4.3M)
Lee ($7.0M)
Monahan ($6.3M)
Zacha ($3.5M)
Fagemo ($0.8M)
Huberdeau ($10.5M)
Trochek ($5.6M)
Granlund ($5.0M)

Dach @ $3.3M is on the low-end of all of these players. He's also substantially younger than every single one of them, with the exception of Fagemo.

Add in things he already has (defensive game, board battles) and things he may have in the future (potential), this is a great addition to the team and is great value for his cap hit. Great addition relative to where he is in his development arch as well. I'm hopeful he can continue his production pace and really cement this as his break-out season. Also hopeful he repeats these results or exceeds them in future seasons as well.

 

[Sagikev]

Just lacks shooting confidence.

That's the thing. We've seen him rip it sometimes, he can shoot it well enough, but lacks the speed to shoot. Kinda like KK, he has a powerfull shot, but the windup is too long. Dach also lacks precision I feel like, because everytime he rips one, it either gets blocked or he misses the net, either because he lacks precision or that it's too long to shoot so it gets blocked/he has nothong left to shoot and aims for the corner. He needs to work on this to become a bigger offensive threat, because right now he's only good in the slot/near the goal.

 

[jrom]

Best way to know he's playing well is that this thread is dead ! He's not really there (yet) production wise or driving his own line but I find him more and more efficient in board battles and shoving aside defenders in addition to his usual good passing/zone entries.

I would try a Slaf / Dach / Heineman line next year

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Looks like Tage Thompson at times

 

[WeThreeKings]

His rushes last night were unreal. His confidence is going up with the puck and challenging defenders.

He's gonna be a beast very soon and he's already very good.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'm the only one who really like his game? He play a really solid season so far, great protection of puck, great hands, great passing ability. He show tools of a 3rd overall pick this year. I have big hope for this guy!!

I’m very happy with his development. He’s dropped off along with most of the team but he’s more than justified the trade this year.

 

[SlafySZN]

I’m very happy with his development. He’s dropped off along with most of the team but he’s more than justified the trade this year.

He was the best player on the ice yesterday, especially in the first period

 

[WeThreeKings]

He was the best player on the ice yesterday, especially in the first period

Only good Hab not named Allen.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He was the best player on the ice yesterday, especially in the first period

I’m happy with him. 5 in his last 10 isn’t bad considering how the offense has dried up.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Looks like Tage Thompson at times

No disrespect to Suzuki but Dach is our best puck possession forward. The combo of size, skating, and strength is clearly showing.

Dach is not done growing yet. He's a good one

 

[le_sean]

He’s playing well but I still worry a bit about him as a centre long term. When he’s taken off the top line, where he fits like a glove, he just stops producing. It’s not normal that an injury happens and the coach’s solution is to put Drouin as a centre.

Also I saw a different player in Ottawa. After his 4 mins penalty, he was livid and played like it. Completely different player. He needs to harness that a little more often

The good news is he plays well as a playmaking RW. So not all is lost if he does end up there long term.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He’s playing well but I still worry a bit about him as a centre long term. When he’s taken off the top line, where he fits like a glove, he just stops producing. It’s not normal that an injury happens and the coach’s solution is to put Drouin as a centre.

Also I saw a different player in Ottawa. After his 4 mins penalty, he was livid and played like it. Completely different player. He needs to harness that a little more often.

He's being taken off centering the 2nd line because the top line can't function properly without him.

And yeah his production drops off when he's centering Anderson and Drouin. As would anyone that's not prime McDavid at this point.

It's really just a matter of being too good of a fit, without any other option for the top line, and the sheer shallow depth of talent on the roster to play with him if he centers his own line.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

I'd be interested to see Dach at C with Caufield on his wing for a few games. Part of the problem with Dach at C is Caufield is our only really good offensive winger, therefore Dach is usually left with a bunch of plugs as his wingers.

Suzuki and Caufield haven't done much lately at even strength, so it'd be interesting to see how well our best sniper does with a playmaker like Dach as his C.

 

[AHShadow]

No disrespect to Suzuki but Dach is our best puck possession forward. The combo of size, skating, and strength is clearly showing.

Dach is not done growing yet. He's a good one

Still not attacking the middle of the ice as much as I would like, but he's definitely our best puck possession forward.

He's also the only one who can reliably bring the puck in the offensive zone on the PP. The potential is there, Adam Nicholas just needs to work his magic to make it a reality and we'll have a good one.

Not worried about him not playing C for now. Once he's paired with better wingers, he's gonna be a beast down the middle.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

The kid is a stud. He loves having the puck on his stick.

As for him not taking his chances in the slot, he's been taking it to the net more in the past few games than at the start of the year, You can tell alot of times he's genuinly suprised at the amount of space he can make for himself lol . His ability to separate at his size and stickhandle under defenders sticks is impressive

 

[BaseballCoach]

Still not attacking the middle of the ice as much as I would like, but he's definitely our best puck possession forward.

He's also the only one who can reliably bring the puck in the offensive zone on the PP. The potential is there, Adam Nicholas just needs to work his magic to make it a reality and we'll have a good one.

Not worried about him not playing C for now. Once he's paired with better wingers, he's gonna be a beast down the middle.

If he were to shoot a bit more often, he could be the PP QB we need. Very heady playmaker.

 

[Mrb1p]

Looks like Tage Thompson at times

Doesnt have the shot and never will but he can be Kirby Dach and thats good enough for me.

 

[Habs Halifax]

He’s playing well but I still worry a bit about him as a centre long term. When he’s taken off the top line, where he fits like a glove, he just stops producing. It’s not normal that an injury happens and the coach’s solution is to put Drouin as a centre.

Also I saw a different player in Ottawa. After his 4 mins penalty, he was livid and played like it. Completely different player. He needs to harness that a little more often

The good news is he plays well as a playmaking RW. So not all is lost if he does end up there long term.

The ideal spot for now is Dach on wing with Suzuki and Caufield but if he is moved to center, he needs talent to play with. Aside from McDavid and a few others, no center can produce to their best ability without having talent to work with. Reality

 

[le_sean]

The ideal spot for now is Dach on wing with Suzuki and Caufield but if he is moved to center, he needs talent to play with. Aside from McDavid and a few others, no center can produce to their best ability without having talent to work with. Reality

Monahan was producing fine with those wingers.

Dach is only 21, I’m not that worried. Just wish they’d give him more than one game before shifting to Drouin. But I get it’s probably best for his confidence right now to be on the top line.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Monahan was producing fine with those wingers.

Monahan is matured. Dach is still in development. Growing pains for now. However, you won't move me off the talent needs to play with talent narrative.

Still not attacking the middle of the ice as much as I would like, but he's definitely our best puck possession forward.

He's also the only one who can reliably bring the puck in the offensive zone on the PP. The potential is there, Adam Nicholas just needs to work his magic to make it a reality and we'll have a good one.

Not worried about him not playing C for now. Once he's paired with better wingers, he's gonna be a beast down the middle.

You just wait till he gets stronger. More confidence in holding onto the puck will show up even more.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Monahan is matured. Dach is still in development. Growing pains for now. However, you won't move me off the talent needs to play with talent narrative.

Monahan and Dach give MSL lots of options as to who plays wing and who plays C and on which line.

To balance two scoring lines, I like:
Caufield-Suzuki-Anderson
Slafkovsky-Monahan-Dach

If we are worried about that first line giving up too many goals, especially on the road, a better 2-way option is:
Monahan-Suzuki-Caufield
Slafkovsky-Dach-Anderson
...and now everyone is playing their strong side in the defensive zone