Montreal Canadiens: Kirby Dach Reminds Blackhawks They Gave Up A Little Too Soon

The Montreal Canadiens were in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks in a rare afternoon game earlier today. It is a regular workday in Canada, but it is Thanksgiving weekend in the United States so it was a busy afternoon of games across the league.

The Canadiens faced Chicago for the first time this season and it was a chance for a few players to face a familiar foe. Max Domi was skating against his former team and Luke Richardson was coaching against the team he coached for the past four seasons.

It was also Kirby Dach’s first game against his former team. He was the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and played his first three seasons with the Blackhawks. He never really broke out offensively in Chicago, scoring just 26 points in 70 games in his third NHL season.

The Blackhawks decided it was time to move on from Dach, and traded him to the Canadiens for the 13th and 66th overall picks in the 2022 NHL Draft. They added a couple of intriguing prospects with those picks, but the Canadiens added a 21 year old centre who is 6’4″ and 212 pounds and had previously shown terrific two-way tools at the Junior level.

Well, fast forward a couple months and Dach is proving to be an impressive scorer at the NHL level as well.

Dach has moved to the wing since arriving in Montreal, and has shown incredible chemistry on the first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. He now has 17 points in 21 games and was able to play a pivotal role in the Canadiens beating his former team today.

The former Blackhawk was third on the lineup to shoot in the shootout for the Habs. After Suzuki and Caufield scored, Dach had the game on his stick with a chance to win it for the Canadiens.

Dach came in on his strong side before cutting across the ice and slowly making his way to the net. He then quickly fired a wrist shot over the pad of the Blackhawks netminder to send the home crowd into a frenzy. Well, they were actually already in a frenzy booing their former player, but he was able to put them in their place.

It really just begs the question, why isn’t Chicago still Dach’s place? They are undergoing quite a rebuild and Dach is a big, strong, two-way centre that was just waiting for a bigger opportunity so he could break out offensively.

Unfortunately for Chicago fans, Dach got that opportunity in Montreal and he is making the most of it.

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