Kirby Dach came to the Canadiens with a lot of hope and fanfare. In his first year with Montreal he had 14 goals and 24 assists in 58 games. That remains his career-high. Injuries took over but this year he’s playing. And after 40 games he has just six goals and eight assists including a decent stretch in his last five. As a center in the NHL, he must do better.
Dach is ranked 192nd in expected goals. Even the statistics aren’t expecting much from him. He is 23, but he has to start producing if this club wants to continue its winning ways. The Canadiens have had a good season but there are some key players lagging like Dach.
Dach is currently at 39.3 at the dot. That’s well below what is considered good and that’s currently his career high. For the 2018-19 season, the NHL average shooting percentage was right around what the young pivot has put up on the board. That’s not the case in today’s game.
I had Dach pegged to be about a 45 point player but I suspect the Canadiens thought they were getting a 60 point player and that’s not going to happen this year but he has to get 35. That’s not asking for a lot. Moving him up on the power play should help but will that be enough? If he got there or went beyond that it would be a boost to the Canadiens’ offense and you can never have too much of that.
As a second-line center, he hasn’t lived up to expectations.
