Montreal Canadiens and Former 3 Draft Pick Kirby Dach Agree to Contract Extension

This extension has been rumored by insiders such as Elliotte Friedman for a couple weeks now, and it is finally official. Les Habitants have signed F Kirby Dach to a four-year, $13.45 million contract extension ($3.3625M AAV):

Dach will retain restricted free-agent status upon the deal's expiration in 2026. The third overall selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019 fell prey to the organization's plans of gutting their team and starting from scratch. The Canadiens acquired Dach from Chicago in exchange for the 13th and 66th picks in this summer's draft. Chicago selected C Frank Nazar III and LW Gavin Hayes with the draft picks.

While his career hasn't gotten off to the ideal start, Dach has shown flashes here and there, but most are in agreement that he probably will not ever reach Ryan Getzlaf's level, to whom Dach was compared on draft day. Dach has 59 points in 152 games for the Blackhawks, and his on-ice impacts need work.

( JFresh )

Stylistically, he profiles eerily similar to Getzlaf, however. Dach is a tall, right-handed playmaking center who does not shoot or score very much. His skill with the puck combined with his size is what gets scouts going, but his inability to assemble everything in a complete package has analysts worried. Although, it seems as though Montreal's brass sees something there, and they are willing to bet on the player long term.

Montreal officially has the NHL's most expensive payroll with -$10,239,166 on their books, according to CapFriendly. Of course, Carey Price's $10.5M will come off that number, making the Habs cap compliant to start the season. The Habs are an interesting team going into 2022-23; many have them at the league's bottom, others believe they can surprise. They boast a strong group of centers, a handful of dangerous threats, but they also have essentially no goaltending. It is clear to me that Kent Hughes wasn't willing to field a weak group with the intention of tanking, but there is also no evidence to suggest he envisions a 'successful' season by objective standards. The Canadiens are still a building team, but there is a chance they yield surprising results in '22-23.

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