Everyone was taken aback at the draft when Gary Bettman announced two trades involving the Montreal Canadiens just before the Seattle Kraken’s fourth overall pick, while Shane Wright was still available.
The loss of Alexander Romanov hurt the crowd and the fans, but the acquisition of Kirby Dach got everyone excited.
Indeed, the situation was already clear when Kent Hughes acquired Dach in the last draft.
The CEO of CH had just added a very talented 21-year-old player with a lot of potential to his team.
It’s not for nothing that the Habs still had to sacrifice a promising young defender and crowd favorite in Alexander Romanov to acquire Dach.
However, the observation is also clear when the time comes to assess Kirby Dach’s big weakness, even his handicap: his effectiveness in the face-off circle is very worrying for a center player.
What happens when you have a player with every single tool you could possibly want in a centre, except for one, crucial element? You get Kirby Dach, a player that looks like a transition monster, but one who can’t win a faceoff: https://t.co/IksP6O3XDZ
—Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) September 24, 2022
This is exactly what analyzed Arpon Basu de The Athletic in his last article.
Basu first explains that Dach’s skills seem perfect for the style of play that Martin St-Louis has been trying to establish at CH for several years.
The center player has excellent speed for a player of his size (6 feet 4 inches), in addition to having an unparalleled vision of the game that allows him to be a key element in the transition game.
The new CH center has impressed his teammates since the start of the camp.
Rem Pitlick and David Savard have also complimented their young teammate.
It was Savard’s comparison, however, that clearly caught the eye.
“He is quite imposing, I think that will be his strength. You can see he’s good at puck protection and he can read the game well. He kinda reminds me of Pierre-Luc (Dubois) when I played with him (in Columbus), big in protect the puck. It’s fun to watch him go and I can’t wait to see how he can help us this year. –David Savard
Dach therefore recalls Pierre-Luc Dubois for David Savard.
It’s a good comparison with a player that CH has been trying to obtain for several years now.
Who knows, in two years, when PLD will be a free agent, maybe the Habs will end up with both Dach and Dubois.
The problem with all this praise for Dach?
Nobody dares to talk about the Achilles heel and the handicap of Dach, that is to say the face-offs.
No need to remind you, we know how much the Canadian center is having a lot of difficulty in this department.
He also had the worst percentage in the face-off circle last season in the NHL.
We can therefore wonder if this handicap in the game of Dach will harm his career as a center player.
Will that prevent him from becoming an impact center in the NHL?
Will he be forced to play on the wing?
What is certain is that for the moment, the CH plan is undoubtedly to develop Dach in the center.
But it is clear that to have big minutes of ice time in the center, Dach will absolutely have to improve his faceoffs.
This is a subtly very important aspect in a hockey game, noted Martin St-Louis.
In any case, the new CH center is aware that he must improve this facet of his game.
“I think I know that’s something I have to work on as a young center player. But I will get there. It will get better. –Kirby Dach
To know more, I am relaying to you here the excellent article by Arpon Basu from The Athletic.
A lot of
– I dream about it every day.
Connor Bedard has just completed his hat trick in his 2nd game of the season in the WHL. He also added 1 assist.
The organization that gets their hands on it in the next draft will be VERY lucky! the #CH!? #Generational
— Marc-Olivier Beaudoin (@MOBeaudoin1) September 25, 2022
– Leafs goalie masks for this season.
Murray and Samsonov’s new masks for the season ????????
What do you think? ????
(????: @MapleLeafs) pic.twitter.com/5istAQULSL
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 25, 2022
– To read.
In the Toronto FC locker room, French has continued to be used every year since 2015 thanks to the influx of new French-speaking players and the presence of veterans.⚽⚜️https://t.co/0okDfES4Mw
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) September 25, 2022
– Impressive.
WORLD RECORD ‼️
2:01:09 ????
KING-CHOGE ????#BerlinMarathon pic.twitter.com/FFOWv4aGMn
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 25, 2022
– Big victory again for the Quebec Remparts.
A scenario that is likely to happen more often than not this season!????https://t.co/2KDPuSDAcI
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) September 25, 2022