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Lariviere: Kirby Dach Is Building His NHL Trade Value

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Lariviere: Kirby Dach Is Building His NHL Trade Value

Originally posted on The Sick Podcast | By Nick Lariviere | Last updated Nov 13, 2026 7:54 PM ET

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Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach has been playing some great hockey over the last few games, which in turn could be improving his value on the NHL trade market around the league.

Kirby Dach is one of the names that have been floating around as a potential trade piece for the Montreal Canadiens so far this season. The Canadiens will have a logjam at forward once everyone is healthy, which means that they will need to ship a player out. Dach is a good candidate, as he will be a UFA at season’s end, and he doesn’t have a legitimate role on the Canadiens.

Lately, Dach has been playing very well, which should only help his trade value across the league. He has been playing his best hockey of the season thus far ever since last Thursday’s 5-4 OT win against the Utah Mammoth, in which he made his return from an illness that made him miss two games. Dach is now using his speed, size, and abilities to create offense more often on a line with Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen. He is looking like a completely different player over the last few games compared to the beginning of the season, as he now moves his feet and isn’t afraid to go to the net. In his last four games, Dach has two goals and an assist, which is a big step up from the four assists that he had in his first 13 games of the season. The 25-year-old is showing that he has the potential to still be a solid middle-six forward in the NHL, which could be useful for a team in a rebuild.

The reality with Dach is that due to major injuries and consistency issues, he was never able to carve out a proper role with the Canadiens throughout his five years with the team. Dach’s spot on the Canadiens will soon be getting in the way of players who are getting back into the lineup from injury. The main player that will be returning soon and could affect Dach’s role in the lineup is Ivan Demidov. Although they play different roles on the team, Demidov will push many players down in the lineup and return to his spot on the Canadiens’ second scoring line. On top of Demidov, rookie forwards Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck have proven that they belong in the NHL and fit the role of bottom-six forward better than Dach, given their physical styles of play on a more consistent basis.

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Montreal Canadiens are expecting to get both forwards Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky to join the team once their respective seasons end. With that being said, there isn’t room for all these forwards on the main roster if everyone is healthy, meaning the Canadiens will likely need to make room via trades at some point during the season. Considering Kirby Dach isn’t expected to have a future with the Canadiens after this current campaign, he will be one of the most likely to be moved.

Besides, after five years with the Canadiens that were mainly filled with injuries, Dach deserves a shot at a clean slate elsewhere to show what he can do. Another team may take a chance on him at some point this season, in hopes that he can unlock some untapped potential that he has never reached with the Canadiens.

Being a former third overall pick, while standing at 6’4″ and 221 pounds, there is still a market for Dach as long as he can prove that he can finally stay healthy. The way he is playing now is exactly the type of game that will garner enough interest from opposing teams that net the Canadiens a useful return. On the other hand, he has struggled with consistency, which is partially why the Canadiens would consider trading Dach in the first place.

This article first appeared on The Sick Podcast and was syndicated with permission.

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