Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee, the team announced Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Dach injured his knee during the first period of the Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday following a hit by Chicago defenseman Jarred Tinordi.
- The 22-year-old will have surgery once the swelling in his knee subsides. A recovery timeline will be given after the surgery.
- Dach had two assists through two games this season, both coming in a shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last week.
Forward Kirby Dach will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining tears to his ACL and MCL in his right knee. He will undergo surgery.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 18, 2023
Another season derailed by injury for Dach
This is the second season in a row Dach has shown promise as potentially becoming the Canadiens’ No. 1 center, only to have that promise derailed by injury. It happened twice last season, limiting him to 58 games, and now this season, it only took two games.
When you add in the major wrist injury he sustained in 2019-20, that’s a lot of bad injury luck for someone who will turn 23 in January. — Arpon Basu, NHL senior writer
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Who fills in?
For the Canadiens, aside from the lost development time for Dach, this creates a big hole at center that will be filled by Alex Newhook for now. Newhook has experience playing center, but coach Martin St. Louis wanted to ease him into his new team by starting him on the wing. This is a big opportunity for Newhook to establish himself at his natural position, and for the Canadiens to see if this is where he can help the team most. Newhook will have Juraj Slafkovsky on his wing, a player who had built good chemistry with Dach. It is a big responsibility for Newhook to ensure Slafkovsky’s strong start to the season continues with him at center.
After leading the NHL in man-games lost to injury two years in a row, the Canadiens made major changes to their medical and training staff and brought in several people in key positions to avoid a repeat performance. Welcome to Montreal. — Basu
GO DEEPER
How the Canadiens’ first game without Kirby Dach opens possibilities for what’s to come
Backstory
Dach has 99 career points (33 goals and 66 assists) in 212 NHL games. A No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks, he spent his first three seasons with Chicago before he was traded to Montreal in July 2022.
Last season, Dach recorded a career-high 38 points (14 goals and 24 assists) through 58 games with Montreal.
Required reading
- Kirby Dach’s injury and the various ways in which his absence will impact the Canadiens
- Weekend NHL rankings: Early-season picks for the best, the worst and the top bandwagon teams
(Photo: David Kirouac / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)