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Kirby Dach

Canadiens’ Kirby Dach Out Long-Term With Lower-Body Injury

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4:04 PM: It has been reported that Dach suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his knee. He will undergo further testing to officially determine the injury soon.

10:39 AM: Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach is expected to miss “significant” time with a lower-body injury, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports. Dach sustained the injury in Saturday’s win against the Chicago Blackhawks after he was on the receiving end of a large hit from Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi.

Dach, 22, looks like a future top-six fixture for the Habs – if he can stay healthy. He recorded 14 goals, 24 assists and 38 points in 58 games in 2022-23 – his first season in Montreal – a career-high pace of 54 points in a full season. The 2019 third-overall pick of the Chicago Blackhawks logged two assists through his first two games this season, but it appears he’ll need to wait a while to add to that total.

Dach missed 16 games at the tail end of last season with another lower-body injury. In his absence, another young forward on the cusp of a breakout, Alex Newhook, will center the team’s second line. Montreal acquired Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche this summer in exchange for a first- and second-round pick as well as defense prospect Gianni Fairbrother.

Montreal hopes this isn’t a sign of things to come. The team lost over 600 man-games to injury last season, believed to be an NHL all-time record. For a team hyper-focused on the development of their young core, this is far from an ideal situation.

With Dach out of the lineup, look for the Habs to place him on injured reserve and make a corresponding recall of a forward from AHL Laval. They now have just 12 healthy forwards on the roster.

Injury Updates: Dach, Hall, Buchnevich, Merzļikins

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Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach left last night’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks with a lower-body injury, according to an announcement from the club. Dach was the recipient of a big hit from Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi, one that sent Dach into the Blackhawks’ bench. It appears as though Dach’s injury came from that hit, and at this moment the team has not released any additional details on Dach’s absence.

Should the Canadiens lose Dach for any notable period, it would be a significant early blow to the team’s season. Not only would it represent an unfortunate setback given the time Dach missed last season, it would also represent a significant loss to the Canadiens’ ability to both win games and develop their players. As head coach Martin St. Louis’ second-line center, Dach had a crucial role helping the growth of his two wingers: offseason trade acquisition Alex Newhook and 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovský. In an admittedly small sample size that line appeared dominant at times, and the one game they played entirely together was called Slafkovský’s best game of his career by local media. The development of those players is of the most important aspect of this Canadiens season, so whether Dach’s injury will keep him out long-term is an extremely important storyline to track for Canadiens fans.

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall told the media today, including the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope, that he’s preparing to play Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Such a return would represent a quick turnaround for Hall, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Blackhawks’ second game of the season, against his former team the Boston Bruins. Hall said that although his shoulder still “doesn’t feel great” it’s good enough to allow him to return to the lineup.
  • Earlier today, we covered reports out of St. Louis stating that Blues star forward Pavel Buchnevich could be staring down an extended absence due to the injury he suffered last night. NHL.com’s Lou Korac relays word from Blues head coach Craig Berube who said Buchnevich is feeling better today. Korac added that the tone surrounding the injury “sounds more encouraging” than it did last night, adding that the Blues “may have dodged serious injury” to Buchnevich, which would be incredible news for St. Louis.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said via team reporter Jeff Svoboda that netminder Elvis Merzļikins “has a stomach bug” and missed today’s practice after leaving last night’s game. Per Vincent, Merzļikins’ status for tonight’s game is in question, and as a result, Spencer Martin (who saved 15 of 17 shots last night in relief against the New York Rangers) could start his first game as a Blue Jacket tomorrow night when the team hosts the Detroit Red Wings.

Injury Notes: Dach, Petry, Senators

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The Montreal Canadiens announced center Kirby Dach will not play in tonight’s game. The Canadiens are taking on the Philadelphia Flyers, in a game that will see prospect Sean Farrell make his NHL debut and goaltender Cayden Primeau will make his first start of the season. However, the team that has dealt with a large number of injuries all season will have yet another impact player out of the lineup. Dach has been ruled out with an upper-body injury.

The 22-year-old center is having a breakout campaign, though he did miss about a month of action with a lower-body injury recently. In his first season with the Canadiens, Dach has scored 14 goals and 38 points in 58 games. He left last night’s game early after being hit from behind while trying to push the puck over the goal line in overtime. He was called off the ice by the concussion spotter at that time and did not return to the game.

  • Jeff Petry is ready to return to his team’s lineup, according to Michelle Crechiolo of Pens Inside Scoop. The veteran defenseman missed the team’s past five games with an upper-body injury. The 35 year old has scored five goals and 26 points in 52 games this season, his first in Pittsburgh. His return will help bolster a depleted blue line that is without Marcus Pettersson and Dmitry Kulikov. The Penguins need the support, as they are in the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference and need to hold off the Florida Panthers if they want to play in the postseason.
  • Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun reports some positive and negative injury news for the Ottawa Senators. Cam Talbot is ready to return to the lineup for the first time since March 4 when he injured his oblique. However, the team’s top defenseman Thomas Chabot’s status is questionable. He left the team’s most recent game after jamming his wrist and though he returned to the bench he was not able to return to the ice. The team won’t give an official update until tomorrow.

Injury Notes: Canadiens, Greenway, Johnson

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The Montreal Canadiens have been absolutely ravaged by injuries yet again this season, missing key players for long stretches. While they have no playoff aspirations at this point in the season, there is still some promising news for the team health-wise. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports that forwards Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher were all at practice today, albeit in non-contact jerseys.

All three have missed significant stretches of time this season, especially Gallagher, who’s played just 25 games with intermittent lower-body injuries. His latest absence has kept him out since January 3 and is past his original estimated return timeline of six weeks. Evans exited the lineup a few weeks later and was issued a 10-week recovery timeline from a knee injury. Dach has been out since the end of last month with a lower-body injury and has no timeline for a return.

All are important players to Montreal in their own right, but Dach has especially been impressive in his first season in Montreal. The third overall pick in 2019 has taken a significant step in his offensive development since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, adding an even brighter star to an already bright future for the Canadiens.

  • Buffalo Sabres winger Jordan Greenway is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to Bleacher Report contributor Joe Yerdon, adding to a bumpy season for him. The 26-year-old has just one goal in eight games since the Sabres acquired him at the trade deadline, and the team is quickly plummeting out of the Wild Card race.
  • On a positive note, The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando reports that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson practiced in a regular jersey today, signaling he’s close to a return. Johnson has missed over a month with a foot injury but could draw back into the lineup soon ahead of the playoffs. The 34-year-old has seven assists in 51 games this season.

East Notes: Canadiens, Lazar, Steeves, Motte

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Canadiens centers Kirby Dach and Jake Evans both skated before practice today, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).  Dach has been out for nearly a month with a lower-body injury, stalling the momentum on what had been a solid first year with Montreal as the 22-year-old has a career-high 35 points in 53 games this season.  He is listed as out indefinitely.  Evans, meanwhile, has missed almost two months with a lower-body injury of his own, one that is expected to keep him out for a couple more weeks.  The 26-year-old has struggled prior to the injury, notching just 11 points in 43 games after putting up 29 in 73 contests last season.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Devils forward Curtis Lazar has now been cleared to join the team, notes Ryan Novozinsky of the Newark Star-Ledger. The veteran was acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline but had been waiting to get through work visa and immigration issues which have now been resolved.  Lazar has joined up with New Jersey in Montreal but isn’t expected to be in the lineup just yet.  The 28-year-old has five points and 124 hits in 45 games so far this season.
  • A day after being recalled from the minors, the Maple Leafs have returned winger Alex Steeves to AHL Toronto, per the AHL’s transactions log. Steeves had been on an emergency recall but with John Tavares expected to play tonight, Toronto had to send one of the two players they brought up back to the Marlies.  Steeves has 17 goals and 28 assists in 54 games so far this season in the minors, good for second on Toronto in scoring.
  • Rangers winger Tyler Motte was listed as a game-time decision for today’s game against Buffalo but is expected to play, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post (Twitter link). The 28-year-old suffered an upper-body injury earlier this month against his former team in Ottawa and has 10 points in 44 games this season.  Motte’s return means that New York will have to return Jonny Brodzinski to AHL Hartford as the cap exemption permitting his recall will expire since the Rangers will once again have 12 healthy forwards.

Montreal Canadiens Issue Injury Updates

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Once again this season, the Montreal Canadiens’ significant injury woes have forced them to make a set of announcements to update the hockey world on some of their players still working their way back to full health. Last time, the team issued four medical updates at once, and last night they officially announced new developments in the injury statuses of three players.

Firstly, the team announced that breakout forward Kirby Dach is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. As we wrote in our coverage of the last major Canadiens injury update, Dach has been out since February 14th, with his absence first attributed to a non-COVID illness. The team then discovered that Dach’s illness symptoms were actually consistent with the effects of a lower-body injury, hence this new development.

Dach’s progress this season has been an encouraging early success for the Canadiens’ stated goal of revamping their player development process, and he has at times this season looked like one of the more dangerous offensive options at coach Martin St. Lous’ disposal. While it’s unclear if Dach will return this season, if his season does end at the 54-game, 35-point mark, the team can consider his first campaign in Montreal to be a strong one.

The second update the team issued concerns one of the team’s core veteran leaders: Brendan Gallagher. He is out with his own lower-body injury on a three-to-four-week recovery timeline. This means that it’s possible that Gallagher misses the rest of the season, as their final game is on April 13th, meaning Gallagher’s current timeline will be cutting it close.

If this injury does indeed cost Gallagher the remainder of his season, it will end what has been a disappointing campaign. While Gallagher has maintained his tenacious style of play, that trademark style seems to have taken its toll on his availability. He’s been in and out of the lineup for the last three seasons, and while the underlying numbers paint a prettier picture than his box score stats, Gallagher’s productivity has suffered as well.

If he has played his final game of this season, he’ll finish with just nine points in 25 games. Armed with a $6.5MM AAV deal that runs through 2026-27, getting their heart-and-soul player back to his old, productive self will be an important priority for the Canadiens organization.

The final injury update relates to rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj, who underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the team’s season. Xhekaj, an undrafted product who surprisingly made the Canadiens out of training camp, has quickly become a fan favorite in Montreal.

His bruising, exceedingly physical style of play quickly endeared him to both Canadiens coaches and the Montreal market, and the understated skill he brought to the table indicated that there could be more in his future than a career as a simple physicality specialist.

He’ll finish his rookie campaign with 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 51 games, and Canadiens fans will turn their attention to the other promising first-year-pro defensemen in their lineup: Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and Justin Barron.

While Xhekaj’s injury certainly takes a bite out of the entertainment value of the rest of the Canadiens’ games this season, seeing as the team won’t make the playoffs and is playing for pride alone over the next few weeks, having Xhekaj undergo surgery with an eye towards returning to full health for next season (rather than seeing him play through the injury/pain in order to help his team’s odds of winning, as some players have done in the past) seems like a wise course of action.

Montreal Canadiens Issue Injury Updates

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While the Montreal Canadiens have been better than many might have expected this season — they started off pretty well and are ahead of six teams in the standings, double-digit points out of the fight for the best chance at Connor Bedard — injuries have absolutely decimated whatever chance they may have had at staying on the periphery of the playoff chase.

Beyond the long-term, likely career-ending injury to Carey Price that has landed him on long-term injured reserve, the Canadiens have a whopping seven players on injured reserve and two in addition to Price on the long-term injured list. The players on those injured lists are star winger Cole Caufield, first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, veteran Brendan Gallagher, talented rookie Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Jake Evans, Chris Wideman, Paul Byron, and Arber Xhekaj.

In addition to the players on the injured lists, there’s also Joel Edmundson, who remains on the active roster but hasn’t played in a month due to injury, leaving the Canadiens further depleted on their back end.

While these injuries have led to some interesting revelations, such as the impressive play of rookie Rafael Harvey-Pinard, they are also quite the frustration for a team looking to use the 2022-23 season as a valuable year of player development.

Today, the Canadiens announced some injury updates on a few important players. Firstly, the Canadiens announced that Xhekaj will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery next week.

Xhekaj seemed to injure his shoulder during a fight with Edmonton Oilers rookie Vincent Desharnais, and that injury will now end what has been an exciting rookie season for the defenseman.

The undrafted blueliner has worked his way up to be quite the rookie surprise in the NHL, playing with the kind of physicality and snarl that made him an instant fan favorite for those who frequent the Bell Center.

He flashed some more skill and talent beyond just his physicality than one might expect, and his injury means the Canadiens’ blueline and player development mission has been dealt a serious blow.

The one potential positive to note is that the Canadiens’ organizational apathy to whether they win or lose games for the rest of the season (coach Martin St. Louis has continually stressed the importance of player development over bottom-line results) has afforded them the freedom to make decisions that are in the best interest of their players’ long-term health.

Whereas a team in a Stanley Cup chase might hope that Xhekaj play through an injury in order to give their team the best chance at winning it all, the Canadiens can afford to let players such as Caufield and Xhekaj get a head start on their recoveries, which is definitely useful.

The second injury update the team issued is related to another breakout young talent: Kirby Dach. The team announced that Dach will not travel with the team to California, and will be out with a lower-body injury. Dach has been out since February 14th, with his absence first attributed to a non-COVID illness. The team then discovered that Dach’s illness symptoms were actually consistent with the effects of a lower-body injury, meaning now the team has yet another injury to manage.

Dach has flown past the career-highs in scoring he set as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, and was making some major steps forward in his game under St. Louis’ tutelage. The Canadiens announced that Dach was out indefinitely with the injury, meaning the team will have to hope that he’s not another player whose season will be cut short.

Another injury update the team issued was that veteran forward Joel Armia is out day-to-day with an upper respiratory infection. Armia, who hasn’t played since February 21st, hasn’t yet been placed on injured reserve, leaving hope that he can overcome this infection and return to the ice relatively quickly.

A final injury update the team issued regards Edmundson, who as mentioned has not played in a month. The team announced that Edmundson will travel to California, and is expected to be at practice Monday as he nears a return. At this point, Edmundson’s return to the ice may be too late for him to figure in teams’ trade deadline plans, but he should bolster a Canadiens’ back-end that has looked quite a bit thinner due to injuries.

The Canadiens sent defenseman Corey Schueneman back to the AHL’s Laval Rocket last night, lending to the belief that Edmundson is nearing a return to the ice. Shueneman played four games for the Canadiens during this call-up, registering one assist and averaging 15:48 TOI.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

East Notes: O’Reilly, Gaudreau, Dach, Wilson

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While it’s a frequent occurrence that a team acquires a player on an expiring contract and then quickly signs him to an extension, that won’t be the case for the Maple Leafs and center Ryan O’Reilly.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Kyle Dubas indicated that there have been no discussions about an extension nor are there plans to do so.  Instead, the plan is to see how he fits in with his new team and then assess whether there’s mutual interest in trying to extend his stay with Toronto.  With more than $72.6MM committed to just a dozen players for next season per CapFriendly, it’s going to be quite difficult for them to keep their new middleman unless they’re able to free up considerable cap space this summer.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that winger Johnny Gaudreau will miss tonight’s game against Dallas due to a lower-body injury. That means his Ironman streak will come to an end at 349 games; only two players (Phil Kessel and Brent Burns) had longer active streaks.  Gaudreau hasn’t been able to put up the production he had with Calgary last season but still has 52 points in 55 games, good for an 18-point point lead on Patrik Laine who sits second.  Lane Pederson will make his Columbus debut in Gaudreau’s place.
  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Kirby Dach will miss his second straight game tonight against Toronto due to a non-COVID illness. The 22-year-old tried to take part in the morning skate but left just minutes in.  Dach has had a breakout year in his first season with Montreal as he has 12 goals and 23 assists in 54 games so far, good for third on the team in scoring.
  • The Capitals have activated winger Tom Wilson from injured reserve, reports NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has been out for more than three weeks after blocking a shot off his ankle late last month.  Between that and his recovery from knee surgery last spring, Wilson has been limited to just eight games so far, where he has two goals, an assist, and 33 hits.

Injury Notes: Hughes, Ekman-Larsson, Dach

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Despite some optimism yesterday that he may return, the New Jersey Devils will take on the St. Louis Blues tonight without one of their key players. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports that Jack Hughes is not playing in tonight’s game as he continues his recovery to full strength after an upper-body injury.

The news remains a blow to New Jersey, who have relied on Hughes’ scoring and playmaking abilities to take them back into playoff contention this season. They’ve still managed to record a point in all three games without Hughes, sustaining their only loss in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild last Saturday.

  • Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson underwent X-rays today after sustaining a lower-body injury, according to a report by Sportsnet’s Randip Janda. The news comes after head coach Rick Tocchet stated that he didn’t expect Ekman-Larsson to play in the team’s upcoming game on Saturday against Philadelphia. It’s unclear when Ekman-Larsson suffered the injury, but he left last night’s 6-4 loss against the Rangers early. Ekman-Larsson has struggled defensively in his second season with the Canucks after a mild resurgence last year. Still, he’s recorded 22 points in 54 games played this season, second among Vancouver blue-liners.
  • The Montreal Canadiens announced that forward Kirby Dach is not playing in tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes due to a non-COVID-related illness. Dach, who was acquired over the offseason from the Chicago Blackhawks, will be replaced in the lineup by Rem Pitlick. Pitlick returns to the Canadiens lineup after being a healthy scratch in their last two games. Dach’s absence will certainly be felt, as the talented forward is enjoying a breakout season and had three points in his last five games.

Carey Price To Be Moved To Long-Term Injured Reserve

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If you were wondering how exactly the Montreal Canadiens were able to fit Kirby Dach’s contract under the salary cap today, you weren’t alone. The deal seemingly put them over the 10% offseason cushion, with a team cap hit of more than $92.7MM. Arpon Basu of The Athletic has the answer – Carey Price is going on long-term injured reserve early.

Contrary to widespread belief, LTIR can actually be used in the offseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs did so in the summer of 2017 when signing Patrick Marleau, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did it with Nikita Kucherov in late 2020 when signing Mikhail Sergachev to his bridge deal.

CapFriendly notes that to use LTIR, a team must “provide doctors proof that the player in question will continue to be injured at the beginning of the regular season for 10 NHL games and 24 calendar days.” Price may not play at all this season, with general manager Kent Hughes explaining that there did not appear to be a path for him without undergoing another surgery.

Essentially, giving Price the injury designation now will increase the Canadiens’ upper limit by more than $10MM, allowing them to officially file the Dach contract without breaching the 10% cushion. It should be noted that the release this morning indicated that the two sides had agreed to terms on a contract but Dach does not yet appear on the official roster, meaning the order of operations has not been completed.

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