Peyton Krebs may have just handed the Canadiens a clean negotiating marker in Kirby Dach’s case.
Buffalo locked up Krebs on a four-year, $18 million contract, a deal that pays him $4.5 million per season. For Montreal, that number now looks like the kind of benchmark that could shape where Dach lands.
The comparison is easy to draw. Krebs and Dach were drafted in the same year, and both have had their development slowed by injuries. But the most recent season swung the conversation in a very different direction.
Krebs played all 82 games and finished with 39 points and a +13 rating. Dach’s year went the other way: he was limited to 37 games, put up 15 points and ended with a -2 rating.
That gap matters. The player who stayed on the ice, produced more and posted the stronger season is the one who just set the market at $4.5 million a year. If that’s the ceiling for Krebs, it’s hard to see Dach pushing beyond it.
The timing makes the comparison even more useful for Montreal. Dach’s arbitration hearing is set for July 30, and deals like Krebs’ are exactly the kind of reference point that will come into play.
The Canadiens have already submitted a qualifying offer to Dach worth $4 million, though it is a two-way contract. Still, the broader market signal points lower than what some might have expected.
All signs point to Kirby Dach signing for less than $4.5 million per year.
In Other News...
Canadiens Just Added A Young Defenseman Fans Will Want To Track
The Canadiens have quietly added another name to their defensive pipeline, with Kent Hughes signing Konyushkov and keeping the young blueliner on loan in the KHL for another year before he makes the jump to North America. It is the kind of move Montreal has leaned into as it tries to stock the blue line with players who can grow into NHL roles without being rushed, and this one comes with a profile that has already started to draw attention.
Konyushkovs game and offensive touch have drawn comparisons to Alexandre Carrier, which gives Canadiens fans a pretty clear idea of the type of defender Montreal thinks it may be getting down the road. If he develops the way the organization hopes, he could eventually fit into a similar role on the right side of the blue line, giving the team another mobile, puck-moving option to track closely over the next year. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Still Feel The Sting Of One 2007 Draft Decision
The Canadiens 2007 draft class still stands as one of the franchises most consequential, and not just because of the names they kept. Montreal came out of that year with Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban, but the decision that continues to linger is the one that sent Ryan McDonagh away before he ever played a game for the team. It was the kind of move that looked like a roster shuffle at the time and has only grown heavier with hindsight.
McDonagh went on to become a fixture in the NHL, later wearing the captains letter with the Rangers and helping Tampa Bay win two Stanley Cups, while the Canadiens return in the deal never delivered the same kind of stability. Scott Gomez arrived with plenty of pedigree, but his time in Montreal never matched the expectations attached to the trade, and the organization eventually moved on. For a franchise that got so much right in that draft year, this one still reads like the missed branch in the road. [Read more 🡒]