| Kirby Dach | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 2001, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb) |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Right |
| NHL team F. teams |
Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks |
| NHL Draft | 3rd overall, 2019 Chicago Blackhawks |
| Playing career | 2019–present |
Kirby Dach (born January 21, 2001) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who currently plays for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1][2] Dach was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career[]
Junior[]
During the 2016 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft, Dach was selected second overall by the Saskatoon Blades.[3] He played in 19 games, scoring 10 points. Dach joined the Blades full-time for the 2017–18 season. In 52 games, he recorded seven goals and 39 assists.
In January 2019, Dach was named as an alternate captain for the Blades for the remainder of the season. He was named captain for Team Orr for the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.[4] Team Orr defeated Team Cherry 5–4, with Dach recording one assist.[5] He finished the season with 25 goals and 48 assists in 62 games.
Dach was ranked third among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS)' final draft rankings for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft; Dach was selected third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.[6] He signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the club on July 8.
Professional[]
Chicago Blackhawks (2019–2022)[]
Dach began his professional playing career immediately with the Blackhawks after training camp. He made his NHL debut on October 20, 2019, against the Washington Capitals.[7] Dach scored his first NHL goal against Marc-André Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights in a 2–1 loss on October 22.[8] Dach finished the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 NHL season with 8 goals and 15 assists in 64 games.[9] He also skated in nine playoff games where he recorded one goal and five assists.[10]
Dach missed much of the 2020–21 NHL season after sustaining a wrist injury in the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[9] He rejoined the Blackhawks on March 27, 2021.[9] Dach appeared in 18 games where he tallied two goals and eight assists. He reaggravated his wrist injury and missed the final three games of the season.[11]
The 2021–22 season was a struggle for both Dach and the team, as he returned to the roster full-time but struggled to produce, in the midst of a disastrous season for the Blackhawks that saw wholesale management turnover. He managed only 9 goals and 17 assists in 70 games, while also struggling in the faceoff circle.[12][13] With new general manager Kyle Davidson initiating a team rebuild, there were discussions of trading Dach elsewhere.[12]
Montreal Canadiens (2022–present)[]
On July 7, 2022, during the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Dach was traded by the Blackhawks to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the thirteenth overall pick and a third-round selection.[14] The Canadiens had in turn traded defenceman Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders to acquire the thirteen overall pick in order to make the trade, as general manager Kent Hughes said that he believed Dach could live up to his potential despite his struggles in preceding seasons.[15]
On September 7, 2022, Dach signed a four-year, $13.45 million extension with the Canadiens.[16] Dach scored his first goal for the team in overtime on October 17, giving them a 3–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.[17] He said afterward that "I felt like I got a couple of opportunities in previous games to get my first one. But no better feeling than getting your first one on a new team at home."[18] Though the Canadiens had initially acquired Dach to play centre position, after a few games he was experimentally moved to the wing on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. The configuration garnered strong initial results.[19][20][21]
International play[]
In 2018, Dach was named to Team Canada for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup where he scored 2 goals and 5 assists in 5 tournament games.[22] In the gold medal game against Sweden, Dach scored a first period goal, helping Team Canada to a 6–2 victory.[23]
He was loaned by the Blackhawks to Canada's 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships roster, where he was eventually named captain. On December 23, in Canada's lone pre tournament game which was played against Russia, Dach bumped into Russian forward Ilya Safonov. The impact was enough to injure Dach, who left the game immediately and did not return. X-rays later confirmed Dach had sustained a fracture in his wrist, and would miss the rest of the tournament.[24]
Personal life[]
Kirby's brother Colton Dach is an ice hockey forward with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League as a prospect of the Chicago Blackhawks, who drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.[25] According to Colton, the biggest difference in their playing styles is that "(Kirby is) pass-first and I’m a shoot-first player.”[26]
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2015–16 | Fort Saskatchewan Rangers | AMHL | 34 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Fort Saskatchewan Rangers | AMHL | 22 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 19 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 52 | 7 | 39 | 46 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 62 | 25 | 48 | 73 | 40 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 64 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 18 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 152 | 19 | 40 | 59 | 71 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Canada Black | U17 | 7th | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Canada | HG18 | 
|
5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 10 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 2 | ||||
References[]
- ↑ Kirby Dach at eliteprospects.com (en).
- ↑ 2019 Draft Prospect Rankings, NHL Draft Prospect Rankings (en-US). Retrieved on 2019-04-17.
- ↑ 2016 WHL Bantam Draft Summary – WHL Network (en-CA).
- ↑ Zary, Darren (2019-01-21). 2019 NHL Entry Draft: Blades' Kirby Dach ranked No. 2 in North America | Saskatoon StarPhoenix (en).
- ↑ Team Orr completes thrilling comeback in 5-4 victory. Retrieved on January 24, 2019.
- ↑ Dach aims to prove Blackhawks right at choosing him No. 3 in NHL Draft. Retrieved on June 24, 2019.
- ↑ Thompson, Phil. "Kirby Dach starts at center on the first line in his Blackhawks debut: 'He looked comfortable'", Chicago Tribune, 2019-10-20. Retrieved on 2021-05-07.
- ↑ "Kirby Dach Scores 1st Career Goal for Blackhawks", NBC Chicago, 2019-10-22. Retrieved on 2021-05-07.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Thompson, Phil. "3 things we learned from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, including plans for Kirby Dach and a focus on defense: 'We can execute better and have more of a killer instinct'", Chicago Tribune, 2021-03-22. Retrieved on 2021-05-07.
- ↑ Spiegel, Jackie. "World Juniors 2021: Canada's Kirby Dach with an assist for the ages during practice", Sporting News, 2020-11-18. Retrieved on 2021-05-07.
- ↑ Roumeliotis, Charlie. "Blackhawks' Kirby Dach sidelined with wrist aggravation", NBC Sports Chicago, 2021-05-04. Retrieved on 2021-05-07.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "What should the Blackhawks do about Kirby Dach?", Second City Hockey, June 28, 2022. Retrieved on July 8, 2022.
- ↑ Kauchak, Gail (May 1, 2022). Chicago Blackhawks’ 2021-22 Player Grades: Forwards. Retrieved on July 8, 2022.
- ↑ Canadiens, Islanders, Blackhawks complete three-team deal. TSN (July 7, 2022). Retrieved on July 7, 2022.
- ↑ Canadiens GM Kent Hughes puts his plan into action. Montreal Gazette (July 8, 2022). Retrieved on July 8, 2022.
- ↑ Canadiens Sign Dach to Four-Year Extension. The Hockey News.
- ↑ Engels, Eric (October 17, 2022). Mature Guhle dominant in Canadiens' win over Crosby, Penguins.
- ↑ 'The guys delivered' after St. Louis pulled goalie with 2:23 left. Montreal Gazette (October 17, 2022). Retrieved on October 18, 2022.
- ↑ Chemistry of Caufield, Dach, Suzuki line is paying dividends. Montreal Gazette (November 6, 2022). Retrieved on November 6, 2022.
- ↑ The Canadiens are a Rubik’s Cube that Martin St. Louis has only begun to solve (November 6, 2022). Retrieved on November 6, 2022.
- ↑ Martin St-Louis Praises Kirby Dach’s Play On Canadiens’ Top Line (November 6, 2022). Retrieved on November 6, 2022.
- ↑ 11 WHL players win gold with Canada at 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup – WHL Network (en-CA).
- ↑ Game Summary (en-ca).
- ↑ Team Canada captain Kirby Dach out for remainder of World Juniors (December 24, 2020).
- ↑ Colton Dach. Elite Prospects. Retrieved on 2021-07-24.
- ↑ Thompson, Phil (July 25, 2021). Seth and Caleb Jones. Kirby and Colton Dach. The Chicago Blackhawks are cornering the NHL market on reuniting brothers in the organization.. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2021-07-27.
External links[]
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or ESPN.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nicolas Beaudin |
Chicago Blackhawks first round draft pick 2019 |
Succeeded by Lukas Reichel |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Kirby Dach. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |