Kirby Dach was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2022 NHL Draft. This was a big shock for both organizations as Dach was drafted third overall in 2019.
Even though Dach was traded to the Canadiens, he was still a restricted free agent without a contract for next season. It took until this past week for Dach to get his new contract in Montreal.
On Sept. 7, 2022, Dach signed a four-year deal keeping him in Montreal for a significant amount of time. Now the team has another young center in the organization to build around for the future.
The Canadiens are rebuilding, and Dach will not take up too much of their cap space while they work on the future roster. Dach will make $13.45 million over his deal, giving him an AAV of $3.625 million per season.
What to think of Kirby Dach’s Contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
This is a no-brainer win for the Canadiens. Montreal signed a young talented forward in Dach to an extension that is more of a bridge deal for the organization. Dach has not had the strongest start of his career from where he was drafted. While Chicago was ready to move on, this is a great opportunity for a fresh start with a new team.
The Canadiens have Dach for four seasons and will be able to see where he is at once that contract is over. Should he really develop into a threat on the ice, then this team has a solid number two center behind Nick Suzuki, if not then they can always trade him.
Dach was not going to be a number one center for the Blackhawks. Which was why they had to move on from him this offseason and start their rebuild. Montreal doesn’t need Dach to be a number one guy, which should relieve some of the pressure on the young player.
They need him to be a reliable center for their top nine or six. This team still has Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans, so Suzuki, Dvorak, Dach and Evans give this team many options down the middle.
Check out Dach’s stats so far in the NHL here:
As for what Dach had to say following his contract extension, check out this clip from the Montreal Canadiens twitter:
.@kdach77 wants to become a dual threat on the ice.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/HXd1FxnvD0
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 7, 2022
The Montreal Canadiens start their 2022-23 season with a preseason game on Sept. 26 against the New Jersey Devils. So fans will not have to wait long to see Kirby Dach in a Canadiens jersey!