Canadiens: What's Up Dach?

It's been quite a week for the Montreal Canadiens, they've won their three games outscoring their opponents 15-5. Still, for those three games, the Habs' second line center managed to finish the sequence with a minus-three rating.

I'm aware, the plus-minus stat doesn't always give the full story, but in this particular case, it paints quite an accurate picture of reality. In the two games in which the opponent only managed to score once in the game, it was the Kirby Dach line that was on the ice.

Related: Canadiens: Finally, A Three Game Winning Streak

While a slow start was to be expected considering the serious injury he had to deal with last season, after 33 games, it's not the start anymore. Before we know it, we'll be at the midway point of the season. I can understand a player being scared of injuring himself again after going through what Dach has been true, but that doesn't mean he is absolved of any and all wrongdoing.

Since the start of the season, we've seen a player with a big frame that resolutely refuses to use it. Dach has never played a very physical game, that's not the issue, the issue is just how easy it is for his opponents to take the puck away from him or to just man handle him off the vulcanized bit of rubber. There should be more fight there, especially considering how badly he needs to get out of this funk.

Worst still, at times, there's a clear lack of effort there. We're not talking about a tall player looking almost nonchalant at times a la Mario Lemieux here, we're talking about a player who acts like a passenger even though he's sat in the cockpit.

Since Patrik Laine's return, the first man-advantage unit has looked great, and not just because the big Finn is a fear inducing shooter, but also because Dach has been moved down to the second unit. Since the start of the season, so many plays have died on or from Dach's stick.

While he's meant to be the center of the second line, last night, he only took four draws, losing half of them. Meanwhile, his winger Alex Newhook took six and also won half of them. A top-six line is meant to be an offensive threat and that starts with puck possession, you cannot attack if you don't have the puck and if you don't win the faceoff, you need to deploy energy to get the puck back from the opponent and once you have it, you're left with little energy to mount an attack.

Related: Canadiens: Who's Been Through Dach's Injury?

When looking at Dach's overall performance, you also have to think about the penalties he takes. Of late, he's been sent to the box for selfish penalties that help the other team, like last night, a hooking call in the offensive zone. Furthermore, when he saw the referee lift his arm, he plain and simple stopped playing to look at the zebra while the play was going the other way and his team was trying to gain possession of the puck.

Some will tell me it doesn't matter, it was 5-1 Montreal at that stage. True, the Canadiens had a sizeable lead, but it's not the only instance in which he's acted that way.

Sooner or later, something will have to be done with Dach. Martin St-Louis has tried everything, everything aside from tough love. He's moved him up and down the lineup, demoted him to the second wave of the power play, hoped other players could get him going and nothing has worked. Even the return of a red hot Laine hasn't helped.

After last night's tilt, St-Louis explained how a coach couldn't do all that much to improve a player's confidence but how they could hurt it badly, at this stage, there's nothing left to hurt. Time for St-Louis to hold Dach accountable as he has done with other players this season. Eventually, the Canadiens will be forced to wonder if the Chicago Blackhawks were on to something when they decided to move on from the big pivot. If the answer to that is positive, they may need to accept they lost that trade...

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens