Montreal Canadiens: Kaapo Kakko Contract Is Outline For Kirby Dach’s Deal

The Montreal Canadiens are heading into the quiet part of the offseason. While July featured the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency, August is always the calmest month on the calendar for NHL executives.

Things will obviously ramp up again in September when rookie camp and training camp begin, and the only real question that the Canadiens need to answer before then is what will new contracts look like for two restricted free agents?

Cayden Primeau needs a new contract but he is ticketed for the minors where he will be the starter for the Laval Rocket. Negotiating a deal with an AHL goalie isn’t likely to be that difficult. The other RFA is Kirby Dach, who the Canadiens acquired for a trio of draft picks in the early going of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Dach has played three seasons in the NHL so his contract is going to be a little larger than Primeau’s next deal. However, the Canadiens may have just received an exact blueprint of what Dach’s contract is going to look like.

Kaapo Kakko was an RFA for the New York Rangers but he just agreed to terms for the next two seasons. Kakko’s cap hit will be $2.1 million each season and Dach is likely to come in at almost exactly the same amount.

Let’s just run down the list of comparisons between the two. Kakko is 21 year old. Dach is 21 years old. Kakko is 6’3″. Dach is 6’4″. Kakko was drafted second overall in 2019. Dach was drafted third overall in 2019. Kakko has played 157 career NHL games. Dach has played 152 career NHL games. Kakko has 58 career NHL points. Dach has 59 career NHL points. Kakko scored 23 points as a rookie. Dach scored 23 points as a rookie. Kakko played on a team that just lost a Strome to free agency. Dach played on a team that just lost a Strome to free agency.

Okay, maybe we have run out of actual similarities. Still, both players would be considered to have not met expectations at this point in their career, but have the potential to be far better in the near future.

Kakko signed a two year bridge deal and hopes to break out offensively during that time to show the Rangers he deserves a long-term contract with a much bigger cap hit. Dach is in the exact same boat.

These two young players could be fixtures in their team’s top six forward group going forward, but they haven’t shown that ability quite yet. They deserve essentially the exact same contract and that is a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2.1 million.

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