Montreal Canadiens Role Profiles: Kirby Dach

Unfortunately, the truth is that due to his inability to stay healthy, he doesn’t have the consistency needed to be the guy that can take over a play regularly like he does sometimes. Not to mention, he never had the chance to become a good faceoff player, causing him to be a liability for his team in that area. The hopes of him ever being a regular centre should be put behind him, as the best he’s ever done in the face-off circle came last year when he won just 41.4% of his draws.

Dach is now 25 years old and is entering what should be the prime years of his career, meaning most of his development years are behind him and he likely won’t be much more than a middle-six winger even if he can finally turn the page of his injuries. 

Even though Dach was a completely failed experiment by a rebuilding Montreal Canadiens team, they chose to keep him around for the 2026-27 season by inking him to a one-year $3.6 million deal for the 2026-27 season. While it’s hard to see a slight salary bump for Dach as opposed to the four years prior, it should be noted that $3.6 million in the 2026 NHL is much less than the $3.5 million he got back in the summer of 2022, thanks to the skyrocketing salary cap. The $3.6 million cap hit is also team-friendly enough that the Montreal Canadiens could trade Dach if they feel it’s better to move on from him before the end of the 2026-27 campaign. 

On the positive side, unlike the past two training camps, Dach will come into the season ready without having spent the summer recovering from a knee major injury. This could allow Dach to come out of the gates much better than he has looked in a long time, and this is why he still has a chance to become a top six winger for the Montreal Canadiens this upcoming season. There is no denying the skill and size are there for Dach to be a top six forward, but it’s about whether or not he can finally stay healthy and play with some consistency. 

At this point it is unlikely that he can secure a spot in the top six, but if there is someone who could surprisingly find his way into the top six with a solid camp, it is Dach. The more realistic situation is that he starts the year on the Montreal Canadiens as a third-line winger opposite of Alex Newhook or Zack Bolduc. Thanks to his skill and size, as long as he stays healthy, Dach will also get power play time on the second unit. 

There is also a third scenario, which would see Dach as the Montreal Canadiens’ 13th forward if he’s unable to get going, while other younger players like Owen Beck or Florian Xhekaj outplay him for a bottom six role. It may be a possibility for Dach, but he would need to have a really bad camp to not be in the lineup on opening night. 

At the end of the day, the main goal for Dach during the 2026-27 campaign is just to be able to stay healthy and hopefully play over 70 games for the first time in his NHL career. If he can do that, Dach has a chance to score around 40 points and get his career-high in a third-line role. His talent level should allow him to produce at around a 0.5 point per game clip, while playing with at least one other offensive player on his line.

It will be interesting to see how much a full summer of training with no injury rehab helps Dach when training camp officially opens on September 16th.  There should be no reason why he will be coming into camp in the best shape that he has been since his great training camp back in 2023. 

Do you believe Dach will be able to stay healthy and make an impact on the Canadiens this season?

If you missed it yesterday, check out the role profile of Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier.