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The Montreal Canadiens were a surprising playoff team in the Eastern Conference last season. They took that berth and doubled down in the offseason, trading for Noah Dobson. Another improvement the Habs were banking on could be missing the start of the year. Kirby Dach could miss the start of the Canadiens' training camp with his knee injury, according to a recent report.
“Now, I learned yesterday that Kirby Dach was spending the summer in Edmonton with Kaiden Guhle – Dach is from Fort Saskatchewan and Guhle is from Edmonton (both cities in Alberta) – and that Dach was still in rehab,” Maxime Truman reported for danslescoulisses.com, as translated from French. “…five months after his most recent knee surgery and about forty days before the start of training camp, Kirby Dach is still not recovered and ready to play. However, on February 28, the Canadian told us that Dach would be ready (at 100%) in time for the team's training camp.”
Dach has just played 59 games in two seasons with the Canadiens. He played 57 games in 2024-25, playing his last game in February due to a knee injury. His first year in Montreal was cut short after just two games, tearing his ACL and MCL and missing the entire season.
The Canadiens' lack of center depth crushed them in their playoff series against the Washington Capitals. Dach is supposed to slide in behind Nick Suzuki on the second line. But without him, Alex Newhook is bumped up the lineup. That was made clear in the playoffs and could cost them valuable points in the early portions of the season.
Dach has never lived up to his third-overall pick status, with injuries playing a big role in his early career. If he can recover from his most recent knee injury and have a career year, the Canadiens will benefit.
