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Canadiens: With Dach Out, Where Do Canadiens Go From Here?

By Ryan Praught

MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 14: Jarred Tinordi #25 of the Chicago Blackhawks pushes Kirby Dach #77 of the Montreal Canadiens into the Blackhawks bench during the first period at the Bell Centre on October 14, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 14: Jarred Tinordi #25 of the Chicago Blackhawks pushes Kirby Dach #77 of the Montreal Canadiens into the Blackhawks bench during the first period at the Bell Centre on October 14, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens certainly didn’t expect to be without Kirby Dach for the foreseeable future, but that is their current reality just two games into the season. The Canadiens announced on Monday that Dach would miss significant time with a knee injury, with further speculation that he could even be out for the year with both a torn MCL and ACL.

This leaves Montreal in quite a bind, as they’re down a top-six forward and a massive part of their core for this season. Now they have to find a way to replace Dach and his minutes on the fly on very short notice. Of course, with the Canadiens still in rebuilding mode, this will almost surely be done in-house as opposed to a trade.

Dach was expected to play a significant role this season for the Canadiens, continuing to build on his development, which has been very positive since being traded to Montreal. Losing him means big shoes to fill. Dach played 21 minutes in the opener vs Toronto, including playing on the top power-play unit. Whoever fills that role may not play quite as much, but it will be a heavy workload nonetheless.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at a few options the Canadiens have to play the number two centre in Montreal.

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