The Montreal Canadiens had many players missing at practice on Monday before their game on Tuesday night. Josh Anderon is taking another therapy day, his second since the team's return to action, and a sign that he is battling something at this point in the season. David Savard joined him on the therapy day list while two other players were missing.
Firstly, we'd like to give well wishes to Brendan Gallagher, as he is away because of personal reasons. With some things going on in Gallagher's life right now, we hope the reasons are positive. Secondly, Kirby Dach is being evaluated for a lower-body injury and will not play on Tuesday night. This is bad news for a player who missed the entire 2023-24 season with a knee injury.
The Canadiens recalled Owen Beck on Monday morning, which led people to believe that a trade could be imminent for Jake Evans or Joel Armia. Beck is the likely replacement if Evans leaves at the deadline, but it seems like he could be the short-term replacement for Dach. The Canadiens hope it is only a day-to-day ailment for Dach, but we'll all be holding our breaths until the next update.
The Canadiens are already in an uphill battle if they are still thinking about a playoff spot. We have seen the lineup fall apart before when a crucial piece of their top-six comes out, and we also saw how quickly they turned things around when Patrik Laine returned to the lineup. Montreal needs their top-six to be entirely healthy to compete with the rest of the league, and a long-term Dach injury could be the definitive end of the playoff dreams.
Dach hadn't been contributing the way the Canadiens would've liked, with no points in his past three games and just three assists over his last nine. However, his presence alone can alter some of the matchups for the Canadiens. Emil Heineman's return helps some of their depth, but he still doesn't give opponents the same scare-factor.
The question hanging over the team's head is what happens if the Dach injury is something serious. It's too early to tell if it is, but his injury history is continuing to pile up. The injury history, combined with his poor production this season, could alter his future with the Canadiens.