The Montreal Canadiens will be without center Kirby Dach for the forseeable future as he recovers from an undisclosed injury, according to multiple reports.
The Canadiens pivot, whose injury is described as “long-term,” is still having the ailment diagnosed, though he was forced to leave Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks after being checked into the boards by defenseman Jared Tinordi.
Dach missed substantial time last season, playing in 58 games for Montreal and scoring 14 goals to go along with 24 assists.
While no official confirmation has come down from the Canadiens as of this writing, it’s widely expected the 22-year-old is dealing with a knee injury, though there’s little clarity as to just how severe matters are. Dach notably had his 2022-23 season ended prematurely due to knee surgery.
Selected 3rd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019, Dach has shown promise in truncated stints when healthy, but has struggled to remain on the ice throughout the early stages of his career. Since the COVID-shortened 2021 season, Dach has missed 74 games with various upper and lower body injuries.
Despite missing substantial time, Dach took major strides last season for the Canadiens, serving as one of the Canadiens’ top play-drivers and scoring at a career best 53-point pace.
With Dach on the shelf, Alex Newhook, acquired from the Colorado Avalanche this offseason for draft capital, is expected to move to the middle of the ice on the Canadiens’ new-look second line.
“I’d say the lack of size [Newhook] has compared to [Dach], he probably makes up in speed, foot speed,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis told reporters. “He’s going to have more responsibilities but I don’t think it’s anything he can’t handle.”
The injury bug is nothing new to the Canadiens, who have had dreadful luck on that front throughout the past two seasons. Last year was particular rough for the Habs, as they had 600 man-games lost due to injury.
