Hockey

Kirby Dach: Martin Lemay sees him scoring “at least” 65 points this season
Félix Forget
Kirby Dach: Martin Lemay sees him scoring “at least” 65 points this season
Credit: Getty Images

What can we expect from Kirby Dach in 2025-26? That's THE big question surrounding the Canadiens at the moment. The center, who is coming back from a second major knee injury, is expected to start the year at the center of the second line. It's a position the Habs have been trying to fill all summer, without success, and since they haven't been able to, Dach finds himself there by default. The club must therefore be hoping that #77 will return to the form of his early days in Montreal… and Martin Lemay seems to believe it. On his show Le Retour avec Martin Lemay, the host discussed Dach's case… and what he mentioned was that he has high expectations for Dach this season.In fact, he sees him scoring “at least” 65 points this season.

In 117 games with the Canadiens, Dach scored just 62 points. We've seen him have his moments (especially on the wing of the first line), but we're talking about a guy who has never collected more than 38 points in a season in the Bettman circuit.Even 65 points in a season, he only did that once in junior, having collected 73 points in 62 games in his final year in the WHL.

That said, it's true that Dach has rarely played with such talented wingers as Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov, who should start the year on the second line with him. In fact, the only other time he's been so well surrounded was when he played with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield… and by then, he was racking up points at a pretty impressive rate.But then again, the sample size was small… and Dach was hampered by injuries. If he scores 65 points in a season, it's hard to imagine a world in which he'd have to miss much of it.If all that happens, though, Lemay is right that it would solve (not nearly) the club's second-center problem. And if Dach is finally able to turn the corner this year, it's true that it would be easier for Kent Hughes to sign him on the cheap and have a good player signed on the cheap for a few years.But then again, we're a long way from that scenario. Let's start by wishing Dach to play 65 games (which he's only done once since the start of his NHL career), and then we'll see about the points, shall we?

'Overtime'

– Great news for Bryce Pickford.

– I like it.

– Not wrong, hehe.

– Interesting.

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