When the Montreal Canadiens acquired Kirby Dach in 2022, the hope was that he would help solidify their top 6. Now however it appears as though for a 2nd season in a row, Dach will be sidelined for a significant portion of the season due to injury.
After being checked into the bench area by Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi on Saturday, Dach exited the game and did not return. Montreal is calling it a lower body injury, and expects to be without the 22 year old’s services for the next several weeks, if not longer.
“It was a hockey play,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis after the game. “He hit Dacher, and Dacher got up to avoid getting crushed against the boards…I can’t say it was intentional.”
The former 3rd overall pick from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft previously missed 24 games due to an upper body and lower body injury last season. With two assists through two contests this year, Dach was hoping to finally live up to his top prospect billing and build off a strong training camp.
Now it would appear as though newly acquired forward Alex Newhook will have to step up and fill Dach’s role at centre on the Canadiens 2nd line.
“We have to play the hand we’re dealt, so he’s going to play at centre,” St. Louis told reporters. “It’s not like he has never played centre before, and I’m not too worried about it.”
“It’s not one player that makes up our team,” he continued. “The depth that we have and our play as a group will help us get through times like this.”
While Montreal remains hopeful that the extent of Dach’s injuries are as severe as initially feared, Eric Engels has reported that the club believes the 6’4” centreman may have torn his ACL & MCL.
If that proves to be the case, then Dach’s season could be over before it ever truly began in La Belle Provence. Montreal is expected to make a formal announcement regarding Dach’s recovery timeline in the coming days.
In the meantime, the Canadiens will prepare to take on the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre this week.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Pierre5018. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.