Player Discussion Kirby Dach: Welcome to Montreal part 2

[Balthazar]

I don't think he is coming out of this. I hope he does but it's been 30 games. Some guys don't recover from serious injuries like this, I truly hope I am wrong. Maybe he was never that good to begin with.

Is he not recovering from the injury or he's just the same player that he was in Chicago before the trade?

We saw him play amaizing before injury, many of us were thinking he would even surpass Suzuki. How quick we forget. Give him more time.

The sample was too small to conclude that it was the real Kirby Dach and not a bad player getting on a hot streak (which happens all the time).

 

[SlafySZN]

He never did it from the C position though, only on the W with Suzuki and Caufield, which is also the only place Slaf has ever had any success. Makes you think....

Not true, he was even better playing with Hoffman and Dadonov or even Drouin when he got back at center.

 

[Miller Time]

Michel Therrien criticizes Kirby Dach

Kirby Dach's Time with the Montreal Canadiens Would Be Over if Therrien Had the Final Say

Expectations were high when Kent Hughes acquired Kirby Dach in 2022, but unfortunately for him everything has changed since.

www.habsfanatics.com

This might be the best indicator of great things to come for Dach we've yet seen!

 

[Don D]

From a Feb 2024 Gazette article:
"Dach, who had the ACL and MCL of his right knee surgically repaired on Oct. 31, has been haunted by that thought ever since learning of the damage caused in his collision with Jared Tinordi in the Oct. 14 game against his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks. The pain he’s experienced has been more than just physical."
That and the fact he has had several injuries before may be too much to overcome.
Not everyone is Joe Thornton!
The Habs take a cap hit of $3,362,500 thru 2025/26.
Slaf on the other hand.....

 

[The Great Weal]

Many of us were thinking he would even surpass Suzuki. How quick we forget. Give him more time.

Many of you were horribly wrong about this and were basing he would "surpass Suzuki" based on training camp and preseason. It reminds me of when Victor Mete was going to surpass Ben Chiarot because of his preseason performance. Dach has shown nothing close to Suzuki to warrant that kind of praise.

He'll need an unprecedented turnaround to go from arguably the worst player in the NHL to overtaking a top 15-20 C in the league.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

From a Feb 2024 Gazette article:
"Dach, who had the ACL and MCL of his right knee surgically repaired on Oct. 31, has been haunted by that thought ever since learning of the damage caused in his collision with Jared Tinordi in the Oct. 14 game against his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks. The pain he’s experienced has been more than just physical."
That and the fact he has had several injuries before may be too much to overcome.
Not everyone is Joe Thornton!
The Habs take a cap hit of $3,362,500 thru 2025/26.
Slaf on the other hand.....

Good post. You're not the only one who mentioned that. The Gazette reference is one and it's something I've heard few times on Marinaro and BMP. Dach's psychological fear can take a full year to recovery. He's like a car running with his hand brake.

His market value must be very low now. The best thing for Habs fans is to wait.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Dach was carrying Dadonov and Hoffman from the time he was taken off Suzuki/CC wing to when he got his mysterious injury/illness...and he was doing it while being double covered.

How many games and what were his stats if he was so dominant?

You might be right but that's not how I remember it, but of course he was better then than he is now.

 

[Tyson]

Good post. You're not the only one who mentioned that. The Gazette reference is one and it's something I've heard few times on Marinaro and BMP. Dach's psychological fear can take a full year to recovery. He's like a car running with his hand brake.

His market value must be very low now. The best thing for Habs fans is to wait.

Should he be allowed to play on the second line while hurting the team?

 

[G0bias]

Many of you were horribly wrong about this and were basing he would "surpass Suzuki" based on training camp and preseason. It reminds me of when Victor Mete was going to surpass Ben Chiarot because of his preseason performance. Dach has shown nothing close to Suzuki to warrant that kind of praise.

He'll need an unprecedented turnaround to go from arguably the worst player in the NHL to overtaking a top 15-20 C in the league.

No denying those were some spicy takes but to fair, Dach did dominate between Hoffman and Dadonov/Drouin for a good stretch. So he showed flashes during season play too.
Was it substantial enough is the question.

 

[Balthazar]

If people would apply the same logic to Kirby Dach than they do to other players (like, say, Joel Armia) they'd realize that he's just a bad player that had a good run rather than a good player that's currently on a bad streak.

The bad/good ratio for Kirby Dach in the NHL is probably close to 95/5.

 

[The Great Weal]

No denying those were some spicy takes but to fair, Dach did dominate between Hoffman and Dadonov/Drouin for a good stretch. So he showed flashes during season play too.
Was it substantial enough is the question.

Suzuki carried the team (outside Price) playing next to Drouin and Armia in the playoffs and facing the toughest matchups. That shows way more than 20-ish games in a lost season. Not to mention that he was clearly riding the coattails of Suzuki and Caufield when he was a winger on that line.