I recently wrote a takeaway opining that Kirby Dach should stay on the top line for the Montreal Canadiens. Against the Vancouver Canucks last night, he showed once again how dangerous he can be with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, scoring two goals and helping to lead the Habs to their second straight victory.
But more than just looking good alongside the team’s two best players, Dach appears to have truly found his game in Montreal.
His first goal of the night didn’t require much help from his linemates, as he simply stripped the puck from J.T. Miller before heading in on goal and extending the Canadiens’ lead. This was just a great individual effort from Dach.
Kirby Dach just takes the puck from JT Miller, easily makes it 3-0. pic.twitter.com/kol3Pq9BTb
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 10, 2022
If you listened to a lot of the noise coming from Chicago fans after the trade, you’d have heard plenty of them telling you Dach is washed up at the young age of 21. He’s sitting at 12 points through 14 games now, with no sign of slowing down. If he continues down this road, he’ll become a strong lesson in not giving up on players who are barely north of 20 years old.
I do understand some of the trepidation from the fan base about him being on the wing. Most of us have been around long enough to have seen the developmental issues that have come up when the team tries to convert natural centres to the wing.
But Dach is not Alex Galchenyuk, and even if our experience begs us to make that comparison, one could argue that what really hampered the latter’s development was flipping him back and forth. Perhaps consistency is key, and letting Dach play the remainder of this season on the wing is the best way to find out if he can successfully convert to that position permanently.
At any rate, you typically don’t want to mess with a good thing. Right now, Dach is playing some of the best hockey of his career, and anyone who was calling him washed is likely scrambling to scrub their twitter clean of any mention.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available on your podcast platform of choice. The Habs now have a little break after their back-to-back, and we’ll return when they do on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre.
