Player Discussion Kirby Dach: Welcome to Montreal part 2

Rapala

Registered User
Mar 29, 2013
42,762
40,055
Montreal
I said this many times and recently I visited the Hawks board and asked a few questions about him. I must say, they were a cordial lot and the replies about him were basically a confirmation of what we are seeing now.

After the trade I asked why the Hawks would be willing to give up on a 21-year-old 3rd overall pick, a guy with size and talent. Hopefully, he turns it around but he isn't showing us much in the way of potential.
People forget the one stretch Dach looked good was of a very limited duration with him ultimately needing 24 games off for two different injuries.
Personally I doubt Kirby Dach will ever be able to play the hard heavy game we need/expect from him.

It's no secret I HATE our mix of players particularly up front and I will always insist we need some hard asses up top not just in the bottom six.

Serious question...
Do we even have a top six player who knows how to properly use the body naturally for checking purposes.
 
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OldCraig71

Juice Arse
Feb 2, 2009
36,117
57,425
No one cares
He showed lot of potential in his first 60 games with us. He was on pace for 19 goals and 55 points and playing very well. He was only 21 so still room for growth. There's always a new toy effect when a player is traded tough so we needed confirmation if he could keep this pace for a longer period of time.

He's 23 now and almost 24 and it doesn't look like he can keep that pace. It's been 20 games since his return he should be fine by now. It looks more and more like it was the new toy effect and he can't self motivate. I'd wait until the end of the year but it certainly doesn't look good but i would not say that he did not show potential. When he's working he can be a good 50-60 points big 2nd line player.
New team, fresh start and he got a boost from it. He got hurt which was unfortunate for both him and the team. He had a year off and said he felt ready to go but for whatever reason is not displaying anything we saw during those 60 games.

Hawks fans mentioned the lack of consistent effort and the glimpses of him breaking out and the disappointment of seeing him struggle. He is getting the benefit of the doubt because he was drafted 3rd overall but that might have been a failure on the scouts that had him so high. We had a guy like that and he too showed glimpses but couldn't consistently deliver.

The expectation was that he would slot behind Suzuki and that isn't working and even last night on the 4th line he didn't wow anybody, no one in a Habs jersey did for that matter. There's a reason there are only 50-60 good centers in the NHL, it's a tough job, lots of responsibility and many can't do it.
 

morhilane

Registered User
Feb 28, 2021
9,138
11,839
How many points has he gotten away from the top line? I seem to remember he had a couple 2 assist games when he was with Caufield and Suzuki
1 assist on a Newhook's goal.
1 assist on a Matheson's goal.
1 assist on a Caufield's goal. (CC has only scored in 1 game in the last 10 and Dach didn't assist them).
4 assists on Nick's goals.
1 Dach's goal from Nick and Matheson.

Share assists on goals the most with Slakovsky (with 3).
 

Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
78,885
50,342
Love the guy and think we should stick with him. But we should no longer depend on him.

It's clear we can't count on him for the 2nd line center role. That should now be looked looked at as a hole that needs to be addressed. So you can do it in one of two ways.

1. Find a long term solution. Maybe it's another trade similar to the one that brought us Dach here. Young player with potential. Or maybe it's a reasonably priced vet.

2. Get a rental who acts as a bridge for the next year or two while we figure things out. Malkin in Pittsburgh could probably be gotten for cheap for example. Ride that player for a year and a half until you figure things out.

If Dach finds his game... great. That means we have depth at center and that's always good. Maybe he takes the job down the road anyway. But we cannot count on that now. We've been really patient and it's just not working out. So make other plans and hope Kirby comes back.
 
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Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
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Some of it earned, some of it not.

He got a minus last night and he did his job perfectly.

He's had two of his better games back at center in awhile, I don't think I'd sit him at this point, he did have a couple really nice passes as well yesterday.
I've said this for a while now. Put him as our second line center. I'd said we could give him CC and Slaf but maybe you put them back with Nick and give Dach Roy and Newhook. That SHOULD be a decent second line. When Laine comes back you could add him and put Newhook on the 3rd.

Let him work through it. Give him some talent to work with.
 
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Goalfield13

In Bilbo We Trust
Aug 31, 2021
2,073
2,799
Romanov tops out as a defensive #4 dman in my opinion. We already have a bunch of 2way dmen that can replace him or have even more potential. It just hurt that the Hawks used that pick on one of my favorites in Nazar, but we only traded Romanov to get Dach. Even if Dach tops out as a 40 point center, I'd take that over Romanov any day of the week and Dach has the potential to do more.
I don't think we have a bunch of D that can replace Romanov. Without Hutson, we would be in trouble there, actually. Romonov is a solid top 4 physical D, and people saying he is easily replaceable are just coping. Hutson makes the trade a fine gamble, but we were very very lucky.
 
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Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
78,885
50,342
I don't think we have a bunch of D that can replace Romanov. Without Hutson, we would be in trouble there, actually. Romonov is a solid top 4 physical D, and people saying he is easily replaceable are just coping. Hutson makes the trade a fine gamble, but we were very very lucky.
On the contrary. We were very, very unlucky.

We got ourselves a great center with size. He played really well early on and showed that he had great passing ability. He easily should've been our 2nd line center of the future. Unfortunately, he got hurt and it's f***ed up his career. That was a great trade.
 

WeThreeKings

Demidov is a HAB
Sep 19, 2006
95,668
107,310
Halifax
I don't think we have a bunch of D that can replace Romanov. Without Hutson, we would be in trouble there, actually. Romonov is a solid top 4 physical D, and people saying he is easily replaceable are just coping. Hutson makes the trade a fine gamble, but we were very very lucky.

We have Matheson, Guhle, Hutson, Struble and Xhekaj down the left side.. with a very good prospect in Engstrom in Laval.

He was expendable then and he still would be now.
 

Goalfield13

In Bilbo We Trust
Aug 31, 2021
2,073
2,799
On the contrary. We were very, very unlucky.

We got ourselves a great center with size. He played really well early on and showed that he had great passing ability. He easily should've been our 2nd line center of the future. Unfortunately, he got hurt and it's f***ed up his career.
I don't think we got unlucky. We should have paused when Chicago was willing to trade a top 3, big, young C for a mid 1st. Chicago that was rebuilding. There were question marks even at the time. We were all happy with the trade, but looking back, we have to question why the Hawks were so eager to move on.

We have Matheson, Guhle, Hutson, Struble and Xhekaj down the left side.. with a very good prospect in Engstrom in Laval.

He was expendable then and he still would be now.
Matheson is gone very soon. Struble and Xhekaj will be luckly to ever be as good as Romonov is now. Engstrom is good, but he's not a guarantee. Can't count your D until they hatch. People need to stop downplaying how good Romanov is and was. Just admit he's a pretty darn good player that was a big piece to lose. It's not the end of the world.
 

WeThreeKings

Demidov is a HAB
Sep 19, 2006
95,668
107,310
Halifax
I don't think we got unlucky. We should have paused when Chicago was willing to trade a top 3, big, young C for a mid 1st. Chicago that was rebuilding. There were question marks even at the time. We were all happy with the trade, but looking back, we have to question why the Hawks were so eager to move on.

Because they wanted to go nuclear for Bedard. It's why they moved on from Debrincat and sold everything that was nailed down.

The trade was looking like a massive W for us until the knee injury. Maybe just let him come back from that injury before you declare Chicago geniuses and the Habs sold a bunch of pixie dust?
 

Goalfield13

In Bilbo We Trust
Aug 31, 2021
2,073
2,799
Because they wanted to go nuclear for Bedard. It's why they moved on from Debrincat and sold everything that was nailed down.

The trade was looking like a massive W for us until the knee injury. Maybe just let him come back from that injury before you declare Chicago geniuses and the Habs sold a bunch of pixie dust?
Debrincat and Dach are very different players to move on from. Dach was a dissapointment to them as a prospect. It was reported by many posters over there.

Edit: And once again you are twisting my argument to the extreme to make it easy for you. I never said they were geniuses. I said there were concerns at the time. I also never said Dach was pixie dust. I think he can still turn it around and be a fine player, but Romanov was already a pretty good asset at the time that already proved his worth. While I am not happy with the trade, I can live with it. I can express dissatisfaction without condemnation, you know? It doesn't always have to be to the extremes. I know that is how you look at everything, but it isn't so.
 

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