Kirby Dach plays with a knee brace

This season, the return of Kirby Dach was to be a big addition to the Canadiens’ lineup. The young forward, who has enjoyed some good times since arriving in town, was back after missing almost the entire 2023-24 season.

A serious knee injury meant he didn’t even play two full games last season.

That said, so far it’s been very difficult for Dach. He’s having trouble finding his bearings, and last night we saw him break his stick. He claims he broke it “because he didn’t like it”.

My trade this morning with Kirby Dach.

“I saw you break your stick on the tape yesterday after a PP sequence. Can you put into words how you’re feeling right now? Are you more nervous, frustrated…?

-I just didn’t like my stick.

“Ah, okay.”

– Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) October 23, 2024

We can take this as cash or think it implies frustration on his part… but either way, on the ice, he’s clearly not comfortable.

And during his appearance on The Eye Test Podcast, Eric Engels chatted a bit about Dach’s case… while slipping in an interesting piece of information: Dach has been playing with a knee brace since the start of the season.

According to Engels, this is the first time in his career that Dach has played with a brace. So you have to wonder how comfortable he is.

That said, it’s not necessarily unusual to see a player returning from such a major injury wearing a knee brace. This doesn’t mean that Dach has aggravated his injury, but that precautions are being taken to prevent him re-injuring himself.

One wonders, though, if it’s causing him more discomfort than anything else at the moment.

It’s part of the process for a player to come back from a major injury. It takes time for him to regain confidence in his body and, above all, to shake off the rust.

Considering the Canadiens’ difficulties, we have to hope for the club’s sake that Dach will come back sooner rather than later. But at the moment, one wonders whether this brace (designed to protect the player’s health) could at least partially explain the forward’s difficulties.