Here’s what it would cost to keep Kirby Dach this summer

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Here’s what it would cost to keep Kirby Dach this summer
Credit: NHL.com

Jasons from Kirby Dach.

When he signed his four-year contract in 2022 when he arrived in Montreal, it was clear that he was only one year away from full autonomy.

In other words, he'll be a free agent WITH restrictions next summer.

With Matthew Tkachuk having just forced the Flames to trade him a year away from full autonomy, we wondered if this was what the Canadiens had in store for Dach in 2026.

But it quickly became clear that Dach wasn't going to develop the way we thought he would. And right now, instead of talking about his future in town, we're talking about his state of health.

Because yes, right now, he is legally entitled to sign a contract extension. But in light of the past 40 months, the Canadiens are in no hurry to negotiate.

Right now, the goal is to understand what he can give when he returns to health. And that shouldn't be before Christmas, according to Martin St-Louis. Time is against him to prove himself, because the season keeps moving forward…

What you need to know is that right now, we're even wondering if Dach will receive a qualifying offer from the Canadiens to keep his rights for the future.

Our colleague Maxime Truman mentioned this in an article, and it got me thinking.

In reality, without a qualifying offer, Dach would be an unrestricted free agent and could sign with any team without the Habs having a say.

But how much would the offer be worth?

For a restricted free agent of his caliber, we're talking about the lesser of 100% of his most recent salary or 120% of his payroll.

Dach earns $4.0 million in 2025-2026 and accounts for $3.3625 million on the payroll. 120% of that amount is $4.035 million.

In other words, if the Canadiens don't offer him $4 million next summer, Dach could become an unrestricted free agent.

It's too early to say what Kent Hughes will want to do about this in June/July 2026. You'd think he wouldn't want to lose him for free, in an ideal world.

But let's say it's worth keeping in mind that it's still a good amount of money (despite the cap increase) for a club that will have to accommodate Lane Hutson's contract and will want to go out and get a second center, creating a surplus at forward.

If Dach had developed—ah, never mind.

overtime


overtime

– Nice.

– One year already.

– Well done.

– Coming up.

– Yes.

– A whole family.

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