Kirby Dach: Soon to be one of the NHL's elite defensive centers?

We can’t say enough about the genius of the Kent Hughes deal that brought Kirby Dach to Montreal. The former third overall pick in the draft has made and will continue to make Kent Hughes and Habs fans happy, and I’m not at all worried about that.

On the other hand, as much as I love him, I’m not convinced he’ll become a great player in the national league. He’s physically great, yes, but does he really have what it takes to be among the Bettman elite in any category? The question arises, and surprisingly, there’s an answer I wasn’t expecting at all.

Marc Dumont of MontrealHockeyNow.com published a piece earlier today highlighting some of the 6′-4″ giant’s dream stats.

#GoHabsGo forward Kirby Dach was listed among the top 10 defensive centers in the league.

Montreal Canadiens fans know he also played as a winger last year, but it’s a very encouraging sign nonetheless for a player who was recently called a bust.

More⬇️https://t.co/I9stov96Yl

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) June 26, 2023

When he complemented Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the team’s first line of attack, the trio earned 52% of shots and 50.5% of expected goals. When they weren’t? 41.7% of shots went to them and a mediocre 30.5% of expected goals.

That’s a big drop, especially for a trio that’s supposed to be pulling the team up!

Want more?

With Dach, the first trio was scoring 2.6 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 and allowing 2.57 goals. Without him, it’s 1.69 goals for and 3.85 against. Once again, his impact doesn’t go unnoticed.

According to Dumont, these numbers suggest that Kirby Dach could one day be one of the NHL’s best defensive center players, perhaps even in the top-10. As I said earlier, I’m not convinced it’s possible, but I’d love to be wrong on this one.

I also think it’s a very small sample size to make such a claim. That’s a lot of pressure on Dach’s shoulders all of a sudden. But who knows, maybe it will come true, and that will only make this transaction that much harder for the Chicago Blackhawks to understand.

In brief

– The best defenseman this season is Erik Karlsson.

Erik Karlsson wins the 2022-23 Norris Trophy#NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/tO9E4wHLQ5

– TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 27, 2023

– Linus Ullmark wins the Vézina after a historic Bruins season.

Linus Ullmark garnered 22 first-place votes en route to becoming the 28th different winner of the Vezina Trophy under the current selection criteria (since 1981-82) and fourth from the @NHLBruins in that span. #NHLAwards#NHLStats: https://t.co/CYi6YD6PIf pic.twitter.com/EE9qCFsdWc

– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 27, 2023

– The Bruins haven’t finished shuffling the deck.

An NHL source to me on #NHLBruins GM Don Sweeney after the Bruins traded Taylor Hall and the rights to Nick Foligno to the #Blackhawks on Monday:

“Donny’s just getting going.” https://t.co/i4lDpTQdlL

– MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) June 26, 2023

– By the way, Jim Montgomery would make room for Patrice Bergeron, no matter how many games.

Jim Montgomery on Patrice Bergeron’s future with the Bruins:

“I told him if he wants to come back and play 60 games, 40 games or 10 games, I’ll take him.”

– Alexandre Gascon (@GasconAlexandre) June 27, 2023

– Montgomery also won a trophy tonight.

Jim Montgomery was a near-unanimous choice for the Jack Adams Award, attracting the first-place vote on 79 of the 82 ballots and the second-place selection on the other three ballots. #NHLAwards#NHLStats: https://t.co/CYi6YD6PIf pic.twitter.com/zAVHKm3jWR

– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 27, 2023

– Alex DeBrincat in Detroit, it seems to be written in the sky.

Marek on 32TP talking Alex DeBrincat: “I have a hard time believing that at the end of all of this it’s not going to be Detroit”

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) June 27, 2023

– Here’s the montage I least expected to see today.