Kirby Dach has spent plenty of time in Montreal under a microscope, but right now he’s giving the Canadiens something far more valuable than noise: useful hockey.
That was on display during Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars, when Dach was out there on the power play in the second period after Montreal drew a penalty. For a player who has often been the subject of frustration, it was a notable sight.
Even more notable is that it wasn’t a one-off. The 25-year-old is coming off a strong road trip, and that stretch has clearly moved him back into head coach Martin St.
Louis’ good graces.
Dach’s path in Montreal has been anything but smooth. Drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019, he entered the league with big expectations.
Injuries cut into his 2020-21 season, and his 2021-22 production fell short of the standard attached to a player taken that high. Chicago moved him to the Canadiens in 2022, with the Blackhawks getting that summer’s 13 th overall draft pick in return.
Since arriving in Montreal, the injury issues have followed him. He played only 57 games in 2024-25 and then just 37 in 2025-26.
Even so, he finished that 2025-26 season with 15 points in those 37 games. It wasn’t a spectacular line, but it was something.
This season started with a little promise and then went sideways in a hurry. On opening night in Toronto, Dach logged 11:07 and picked up an assist in the Canadiens’ game against the Maple Leafs.
After that, he went scoreless over the next eight games. St.
Louis’ patience appeared to thin, too, with Dach dipping below 10 minutes of ice time in five of those games and barely clearing that mark in another.
The results matched the eye test. At his worst, he was a passenger.
At other points, he looked like a problem. From Oct. 3 to Oct. 20, he finished with a negative plus/minus in five of eight games.
Then came Montreal’s four-game road trip, which the club swept 4-0. With captain Nick Suzuki out because of injury, there was room for others to grab the spotlight, and Dach did exactly that.
The trip started in Chicago, the city where his NHL career began, and that game seemed to unlock something. Skating with Owen Beck and Jake Evans, Dach played with an edge that had been missing earlier in the month and picked up an assist. His 11:32 of ice time stood out, and so did the way he used it.
Over the next three games, he stayed over 13 minutes a night, including 13:29 against Dallas. That extra usage tied back to the power-play look in Thursday’s game.
It didn’t produce a goal, but the assignment itself said plenty about where he stands. A power-play finish would have been a bonus.
The bigger point was that he was trusted there at all.
What has stood out most is the pace and purpose in his game. Even without a point in Dallas, his forechecking and his work in the offensive zone were enough to leave an impression.
That kind of effort changes the conversation fast. Fans will always respond to a player who looks engaged, and Dach has done that lately.
The bigger question is how long it lasts. His career has been defined by swings, and not just this season.
The strong version of Dach has shown up before, only to fade again. That makes the next stretch tricky to project.
It also gets more complicated once Ivan Demidov and Suzuki return in the coming weeks. Alex Newhook can’t stay on the top line forever, and Oliver Kapanen may not have a permanent spot on the second line either. If Dach’s pace slips again, his place in the lineup becomes a lot less certain.
Then there’s the money. Dach is making $3.6 million in 2026-27 on a one-year extension.
If he keeps producing like this, that number looks perfectly reasonable. If he doesn’t, the calculus changes quickly.
That leaves Montreal with a decision to make down the road. With unrestricted free agency looming next summer, the Canadiens would prefer not to watch a player finally finding his footing walk away for nothing. They could try to keep him around for summer 2027, or they could consider moving him as trade bait in the winter.
For now, though, the present matters most. Right now, Dach is helping keep Montreal in the mix for an Atlantic Division crown, and he’s reminding everyone what he can look like when the effort is there.
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