Canadiens: Kirby Dach’s Absence Very Noticeable

Kirby Dach played just about four periods of hockey before suffering a knee injury that ended his season. The Canadiens had high hopes for Dach, believing he could follow up a great first season in Montreal with another step in his development towards stardom. And he entered the season a vital piece of the Canadiens offensively, and it’s clear now, in his absence, just how valuable he was to the Canadiens.

And this isn’t that surprising, but it’s become even more evident now without him just how much of an impact he has. The Canadiens are struggling offensively, with certain players failing to live up to even the mildest of expectations. Many of them would have likely played alongside Dach or have been elevated to replace him, and it’s led to more problems than solutions.

Take Christian Dvorak, a player who may be best suited in a checking line role, now is elevated to play with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. Kirby Dach in between those two can be fun and exciting, but Dvorak doesn’t fit there so far. Maybe Sean Monahan would; lord knows the Canadiens should try, but they really need an offensively capable centre. Dach is that for the Canadiens, at least more so than anyone else not named Nick Suzuki.

Josh Anderson is another player who’s seen his role elevated in Dach’s absence, with the forward playing on the top powerplay unit. Again, I think it’s time to try a different player out there, but Dach is who would ideally be in that spot, and rightfully so. There isn’t a player on the roster who could fill that spot better than him.

Despite the short time we saw Dach this season, his impact on the one full game he played was significant. He registered two points, and his line was the best, playing alongside Alex Newhook and Slafkovsky. He had an xGF% of 65.76 and was all over the ice, showing great promise for the season. It’s unfair to expect him to perform that way every game, but the Canadiens have had few games like that from a line since. You can’t help but think Dach being healthy would change that.

And you can’t help but think certain players would benefit from Dach being around, either. Slafkovsky, well better as of late, has had only a few performances that rival the one on opening night. Newhook is in a similar boat. And Dach has as many points as Josh Anderson does this season despite the former playing in just four periods.

Offensively, the Canadiens are scoring just 2.71 goals per game. It’s not outlandish to suggest that Dach would make a big difference on that front. Losing him hurts. The Canadiens need to find a way to mitigate that for now because he’s not walking through that door. But if nothing else, the 20 games Montreal has played without Dach is a lesson learned in how valuable he is to the team. That much is obvious.

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