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Can Kirby Dach finally have a healthy season? Photo Credit: David Kirouac / Imagn Images

The Pressure is On for Kirby Dach

Originally posted on The Sick Podcast | By Nick Lariviere | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 7:37 PM ET

On Thursday night, Tony Marinaro and Brian Wilde did their usual weekly summer Q&A Mail Bag and one of the questions from YouTube commenter Big Bill asked, “What will happen if Kirby Dach is either still injured or doesn’t live up to expectations?” This made both Marinaro & Wilde talk about how important this upcoming year is for Dach. This upcoming season is Dach’s last chance to prove to be a part of the Canadiens’ future.

Dach’s 4-year contract will be coming to an end at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, and all he has to show for it so far is that he’s incredibly injury-prone. The knee injuries he has suffered over the past two seasons have slowed the 24-year-old down.

Last year, after coming back from an ACL and MCL tear that made him miss the entire 2023-24 season, Dach struggled to find his game around the 40-game mark. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he injured his knee again, requiring surgery for the 2nd year in a row. Although he should be ready to go again around the season opener in October, Dach doesn’t have the grace period of getting back into game shape if he wants to prove that he should be part of the Montreal Canadiens in the future.

If he is healthy to start the year, Dach will likely be given a strong chance to succeed as the 2nd line centre to Ivan Demidov and one of a healthy Patrik Laine or Zachary Bolduc, considering the Habs were unable to pick up a 2nd line centre so far this off-season.

Compared to having to play with Alex Newhook and a mix of revolving door wingers to start last season, the wingers are much better offensively. Sure, Laine came back into the lineup in early December, after recovering from his knee injury, which helped Dach produce more. It took some time, but in his final 23 games of the season, Dach managed 8 goals and 13 points with a -5 rating, which is a 46-point pace over 82 games. Before that, Dach only had 2 goals and 9 points in his previous 34 games with a league-worst -24 rating. Sure, the +/- rating isn’t the best star to analyze a player as a whole, but when that player is much worse in that category than the rest of the team, it becomes alarming.

With the way the Habs are progressing as a team, there won’t be time to let Dach struggle like he did early on this past season.

Based on how last season went, Dach will need the right players around him to isolate his inevitable early-season struggles while he bounces back from yet another knee surgery. This time, the pressure will be even more intense to bounce back, and he will need to perform to a much higher level.

Luckily, the Canadiens have much better offensive depth along the wings that can help Dach produce more, while he gets his feet back under him.

However, Dach most likely is aware that getting his game back can’t take 35 games again, or his future with the Canadiens will be coming to an end again. If this is the case, Dach may need to settle for a PTO or league minimum deal somewhere else in the league to prove he even belongs in the league anymore.

Truthfully, with how injury-plagued Dach has been since becoming a Hab, it feels like his time is likely to be running out, but if Demidov and Laine can get his offensive game back to the ways it was during the 2022-23 season and he finally manages to turn the page on injuries, then he may find a role somewhere on the Canadiens or another team in the future. However, he will need to play at least 70 games this upcoming season for the first time since his rookie year to make that happen.

Good luck to Dach, but this upcoming year, he will be under a lot of pressure to save his NHL career.

Do you believe that Kirby Dach can turn his career around this upcoming year?

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

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