It’s early in the 2025-2026 season, but the Montreal Canadiens are at the top of the Atlantic Division and the top five in the NHL in the standings. That’s not to say they’re finally Stanley Cup contenders or that the rebuild is complete, just that they’ve seemingly taken another step forward. However, in order to take that step, attention must be paid to the second-line role.
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Kirby Dach was a highly touted prospect and was drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. He was seen as a future top center who could help Chicago expand its perimeter. Instead, they went on a complete rebuild in 2022-23 to try and get the best pick to select Connor Bedard. For Montreal, how general manager (GM) Kent Hughes handles this situation could help determine the next phase of the rebuild.
Canadiens Dach Dilemma
When Dach started out as a professional, he was valued as a big-bodied right-handed center who didn’t necessarily have elite-level attributes outside of his hockey sense, but had no holes in his game, making him seen as a complete player at a very young age. After how tough last season was for Dach, there isn’t enough talk about what kind of player he was before the knee injury in 2023-24. His board work and presence in net saw him seen as a key cog on the power play (PP), and in his first season with the Canadiens he was one of the few solid two-way players on the roster.
Unfortunately, Dach’s development has come to a standstill. The frequency with which he has suffered injuries has come at the cost of a loss of muscle building and endurance, likely a natural fear of re-injury, and missing out on building in-game experience. It’s also difficult to make progress in skills training while also recovering from injuries, especially considering the frequency with which he’s suffered them, basically every season he’s been in Montreal. He’s missing games again due to injury, but the good news is this could be just a minor thing as he’s still traveling with the team on the western road trip and will suit up against the Edmonton Oilers.
It’s more than just interrupting his offseason training and practice routines by limiting time on the ice and access to constructive coaching feedback sessions, but it also has an impact on the space as it can disrupt team dynamics.
Canadiens behind Eight Ball
Montreal acquired Dach expecting him to play center on a second line behind Nick Suzuki. If the plan is successful, it would help stabilize the front group and allow for more stable line combinations. Yes, they made the 2025 Playoffs, but his injury history has caused some issues for the Canadiens on this front, which in turn has left the organization unable to take the next steps in rebuilding.
Over the past two seasons, right knee issues have limited him to 59 games, scoring just 10 goals and 24 points with a minus-27 rating. In 2022-23, he produced a 54-point pace over an 82-game season. In the 2024-2025 season, he finished with a paltry minus-29 rating and poor possession statistics despite being protected by head coach Martin St. Louis. In those 57 games, he started 70.2% of his shifts in the offensive zone in all situations, and his team-controlled play less than 50% of the time with him on the ice, which is not sustainable. Posting below the team’s average possession stats, protecting him at such a high ratio, is a major red flag.
His long absence means the coaching staff cannot consistently integrate him into a line with a regular pair of wingers; this forces frequent lineup changes that make it difficult for players to build chemistry. For example, when he went down with an ACL injury, the team promptly put Alex Newhook in his position, but he was better suited as a winger. This season, Oliver Kapanen has taken over the central role on the second line and seems capable of taking on the responsibilities in the small sample size so far. He has built chemistry with his wingers Newhook and the odds-on favorite for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in Ivan Demidov.
It also affects the power play, as Dach’s absence robs the second unit of their planned option in center. For now, Suzuki is double-teamed on the power play. In the context of reconstruction, line stability is important. It’s not just about building chemistry in alignment; it’s also about player development, and the inability to rely on Dach has undermined both issues and will impact Hughes’ future planning.
Canadiens need to find stability
Dach is an experienced young player, but the problem is that he often falls out of the lineup. This allowed them to offer him a one-year contract extension at a very cheap rate. He is currently inside the last year of a four-year contract that earns him $3.36 million, but that doesn’t solve the problem of a reliable second-line center. This is where Hughes will have to step in. He has been extremely patient with Dach, who has enormous raw talent but has not been able to put everything together due to injuries. Still, hockey is a business, and he can be a winger for Montreal, but this is where the Canadiens will have to move on from Dach as an option at center and find someone who has proven he can fill the role.
Hughes’ approach to building a salary cap structure that has his core signed at a fair but slightly below market value, leaving money on the table, has given him the option to wait to sign someone as an unrestricted free agent, or go out and trade for someone who can fill their biggest need. With someone who is proven and less likely to deal with the same injury issues, there would no longer be any uncertainty regarding the team environment or on-ice strategy.
Given Dach’s youth and promise, the hope had been that a full recovery would allow him to resume the central role the Canadiens had envisioned. But his availability and performance limitations have significantly hampered the team’s chemistry and also impacted its on-ice performance. The time for patience is coming to an end. Hughes has shown he’s preparing for this with his desire to build salary cap space before the trade deadline, but given the competitiveness of the Atlantic Division, he may have to move sooner.
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