The Canadian is having a roller coaster start to the season, with a record that reflects this reality, approaching .500 in terms of victories. A sign that the Montreal team still lacks consistency.
There are still positives: the very encouraging performances of Samuel Montembeaultas well as Cole Caufield who is on fire and who dominates the average goals per match category among the under-24s.
But there are also negatives. The brighter the positive moments shine, the more glaring the shortcomings become. The Canadian’s lack of effort against Boston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh was evident.
Alex Newhook is unable to score a goal, and although the first line works well, this is mainly thanks to good passing games, but especially thanks to Caufield. Fortunately, Juraj Slafkovsky was reassuring against the Islanders with his excellent fallback against Matthew Barzal.
But if there is something constant at the moment with the Montreal Canadiens, it is the poor performances of Kirby Dach.
Picking on a player who is coming back from a long injury and hasn’t played for that long leads to nothing. However, with a differential of -8 in 6 games, he is no longer just a player in difficulty, but a real weak point on the ice. With two other players (Colton Sissons and Michael McCarron), it’s the worst differential in the league.
Yes, as said Hundred Cowan of Montreal Gazette, Kirby Dach needs time, and his health is the priority this season, as much for his confidence as for his value on the market. However, this excuse will become less and less valid as the season progresses. We’ll have to talk about it at some point if this continues.
Patience is still required for the moment. However, his role within the second trio is clearly in question.
“For the moment, we have to give him another role”
On the waves of BPM Sports, Richard Labbe made a striking statement regarding Dach, affirming that, although he should be the CH’s second center in the long term, moving him to the wing for the moment would be doing him a favor.
I remember Suzuki very well saying to me, my question being: “Would you like the Canadian to pursue free agents this summer? Do you think you need help? » Nick Suzuki replied: “Our big player, we already have him, his name is Kirby Dach and he comes back. »
I think the potential of Kirby Dach ensured that at the Montreal Canadiens, we were convinced of having a top player who would return in September. But I don’t think anyone understood that there are very few players who come back after a year of absence and find a level of play…
It would probably do him a favor to perhaps give him a different role (temporarily). In the long term, Kirby Dach must be the 2nd center for the Canadian, but for the moment, he should be given another role… (…)
Richard Labbe
According to the same columnist, this is not a loss of emotion or a punishment, but rather a strategy to revive Dach or allow him to breathe so that he can regain his game before his injury.
It remains to be seen the decision of Martin Saint-Louis. One thing is certain: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
