BROSSARD, Quebec — From day one of training camp, coach Martin St. Louis has loved the depth this edition of the Canadiens has, especially up the middle of the ice.
That depth will be put to the test with the Canadiens announcing Monday that Kirby Dach has a “significant” injury, presumably to his right leg based on his reaction to taking a hit from Jarred Tinordi against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. Dach’s absence will not be short-term, the Canadiens said, and they are working to see just how long he might be out.
Advertisement
Having depth is obviously a good thing, but depth doesn’t help replace a player of Dach’s impact. It will be far-reaching for the Canadiens, and though they have a capable centre in Alex Newhook to take his place, not only will it be difficult for Newhook to replicate everything Dach did for the Canadiens in the middle, but Newhook’s departure from the left wing on the second hole creates another hole in that spot.
There is a domino effect when a player like Dach goes down, especially when you hear St. Louis describe all the ways he impacts a game.
“He competes, his compete level, he brings a physical aspect to the game, not in terms of running around and hitting guys, but in terms of winning a lot of pucks back. He’s a guy that wins a lot of pucks in battles and steals pucks,” St. Louis said Monday. “Obviously great in transition, he possesses, he’s got a very elite brain, can make plays. He’s shown that he can do a lot on the ice, and obviously his size. No, listen, he’s a big-time player for us, he’s going to be missed.”
But St. Louis was quick to add a caveat to that glowing review of the player he no longer has in his lineup.
“There’s one team that really cares that Kirby’s hurt,” he said. “The rest of the league doesn’t care, and the league keeps going. So for us, we’ve got to keep going.”
In order for the Canadiens to keep going, they will need to keep an eye on all the ways Dach impacted not only the game, but also his teammates, to make sure the domino effect doesn’t run rampant and start to be felt throughout the lineup.
Domino #1: Juraj Slafkovský
It is no coincidence that Slafkovský has been playing very well in training camp and through two games in the regular season. Dach accentuates his game and the chemistry the two are building was perhaps the most important development thus far for both the Canadiens’ present and future.
Advertisement
After two games, the Canadiens’ leader in Corsi for percentage at five-on-five according to Natural Stat Trick is Dach at a whopping 70.37 percent. Second is Slafkovský at 68.09 percent. In terms of expected goal percentage, they sit fourth and fifth on the team at 63.83 and 62.63 percent, respectively.
The abilities St. Louis admired about Dach have had a very real impact on Slafkovský’s game and confidence. He plays with the puck more thanks to Dach’s ability to win pucks back, to excel in transition and make plays in the offensive zone. Slafkovský deserves a lot of credit for the way he is understanding the rhythm of an NHL game far better than he did as a rookie, but there is no doubt Dach’s strengths have helped him in that process.
“He’s a great player and he can possess the puck really well,” Slafkovský said Monday. “He just makes it easier for the other players on the ice. Playing with a player like him is just great. We’ll miss him.”
St. Louis noted how much he’s like Slafkovský’s positioning through training camp and the first two games. He hasn’t necessarily done anything spectacular, he is simply in the flow of the game.
“What I like about Slaf is he’s going to the right spots right now,” St. Louis said. “In terms of playing the game, he’s playing it, and it shows in his touches. Sometimes, maybe physically you’re not feeling that great, you don’t have your legs, but if you’re in the right spots you’re still going to get your touches. I’m not too worried about what he does with it, what I want is for him to touch it, and he’s touching it because he’s going to the right spots. And that’s not just offensively, it’s defensively too.”
That flow, however, is largely set by Dach in the middle of the ice. Last season, just as Slafkovský seemed to be finding that rhythm with Sean Monahan as his centre, Monahan got hurt and was lost for the season. Now it’s Dach, and Slafkovský will need to learn the flow with Newhook in the middle instead.
Advertisement
“Newy’s a great centre so I’m sure he’ll still be really good,” he said. “We’ll just need to build a little different chemistry again, but it’s like that in the NHL, you never know who you’re going to play with. So we just have to keep doing our job.”
Which brings us to…
Domino #2: Alex Newhook
Throughout his time with the Colorado Avalanche, Newhook longed for a significant role on the team. He got some opportunities early last season to fill the hole left by Nazem Kadri’s departure at second-line centre, but he ultimately settled into a third-line role that did not really fit his strengths as a player.
Now here he is, with an opportunity again to fill a hole in the middle of Montreal’s second line.
“You always want to have a big role on the team and be part of a winning team,” Newhook said. “Any role I can be in early, now with the injury, no matter how long it’s going to be, it’s just next man mentality and if I’m going to be in a position where I get a bit more of a role and to be reliable and be a guy we can lean on here, it’s important for me to step up and help this team.”
The difference for Newhook now is that in Colorado, he was being asked to replace a player in Kadri that he in no way resembled. But when it comes to Dach, a lot of the points St. Louis made on his strengths can apply to Newhook as well. He is good in transition, he can win back pucks, he can do a lot of things on the ice.
But, he can’t grow by five inches and roughly 20 pounds.
“I would say the lack of size that Newy has compared to Dacher, he probably makes up in speed, foot speed,” St. Louis said. “He’s going to have more responsibilities, but I don’t think it’s anything he can’t handle.”
Depending on who St. Louis uses to replace Newhook on the wing of that second line — he refused to say Monday — the nature and makeup of the line will change. But it will be important for Newhook to establish a flow to the game that Slafkovský and his new linemate can thrive under, while also being careful not to adapt his own game too much.
Advertisement
Domino #3: The power play
Though the Canadiens’ top power play unit has only scored once in two games, it has by and large been effective entering the zone and moving the puck, showing a number of different looks. Most notably, Nick Suzuki has had the liberty of setting up in different spots in the offensive zone, making that unit less predictable than when he is constantly set up in the right circle trying to find Cole Caufield in the left circle or Dach in the bumper.
At practice Monday, Dach’s spot on the power play was given to Josh Anderson, who has historically not been a great fit on the power play. But just as St. Louis is hoping the diversification of Anderson’s game will make him a fit with Suzuki and Caufield at even strength — a combination that has never been a fit before — he must be hoping the same with the power play. However, one thing that is certain is that having a player like Anderson on the first unit instead of Dach will make the unit as a whole less malleable.
When Suzuki left his spot in the right circle, he was often replaced by Dach, who is also a right shot and has similar playmaking abilities. Anderson, however, does not, so this might force the power play into more of a static look. We’ll see.
To be fair, the fact that Anderson is a right shot is probably a big reason why he was chosen to replace Dach, so at least they maintain a right shot in the bumper that can be set up for one-timers either from Suzuki in the right circle or from Sean Monahan on the goal line. The other options would have been Brendan Gallagher and Jesse Ylönen, neither of whom are ideal, though giving Ylönen a chance might have been an interesting solution.
With Anderson taken off the second unit, his spot was taken by a rotation of Tanner Pearson and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard playing the bumper, two left shots, meaning there will be an adjustment needed on that unit in terms of how they attack. But really, that second unit generally works from the left side with Newhook in the circle, and having a left shot in the bumper and at the right circle with Slafkovský gives that unit a similar setup to the first unit with one-timer options in both spots for Newhook to set up.
Domino #4: The team psyche
St. Louis did not share the general reaction of much of the fan base Monday when the news on Dach hit the internet. So many of the responses made some reference to the team being cursed, or here we go again, but St. Louis refused to go there.
“That’s negative energy,” he explained. “I’m not going to let that in.”
Advertisement
It would be normal, however, for the players to start thinking that after the trauma of last season, when the Canadiens lost 600 man-games to injury not even counting Carey Price missing the entire season. While St. Louis acknowledged that possibility, it is a bit more of a tightrope for him with the players than it is in his own mind.
“I think that’s something I need to pay attention to,” he said, “but that’s not something I feel the need to approach and bring in all that.”
Basically, if St. Louis addresses it, he is bringing in that negative energy. So he’ll let it be, and if he feels the need to address it, he will. But he won’t bring it up.
No, because he has more pressing matters to address.
“There’s one team that really cares that Kirby’s hurt,” he said. “The rest of the league doesn’t care, and the league keeps going.
“So for us, we’ve got to keep going.”
Making sure not too many dominos fall as a result of the latest bad injury news to hit this team will be crucial in St. Louis’ desire to have the Canadiens keep going.
(Photo of Kirby Dach being hit by Jarred Tinordi: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)