Great news for Blackhawks 2019 first round pick

After a good rookie campaign during the 2019-20 season with the Chicago Blackhawks, forward Kirby Dach has received some exciting news, which will see him wear the maple leaf this Christmas. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, the Blackhawks will be loaning Dach to Canada's national junior team for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. If the NHL happens to begin before the World Juniors start, which is unlikely, Dach will return to Chicago.

To clarify, if the NHL starts before the WJC, Dach would leave Team Canada to return to the Hawks. https://t.co/YwC8ixso7n— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 29, 2020

Dach, 19, was drafted in the first round, third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL entry draft. In 64 regular season games last season, he had 23 points (8 G, 15 A), 24 penalty minutes, and was a -1. In 9 playoff games, he had 6 points (1 G, 5 A), 4 penalty minutes, and was a +3.

Before joining the Blackhawks, Dach spent two and a half seasons with the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League. In 133 WHL regular season games, he put up 129 points (38 G, 91 A), 56 penalty minutes, and was a +8. In 10 playoff games, he had 8 points (5 G, 3 A), 6 penalty minutes, and was a -1.

Internationally, Dach has represented Canada on a couple occasions already, most recently at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In 5 games, he recorded 7 points (2 G, 5 A), 0 penalty minutes, and was a +/-0 as Canada won the gold medal after defeating Sweden 6-2 in the final.

This is great news for team Canada, after releasing their selection camp roster earlier today, being able to add a player of Dach's caliber is huge. Now we wait and see if the New York Rangers will allow Alexis Lafreniere to play for Canada. With selection camp for the World Juniors opening in about two and a half weeks, we should know the answer to that very shortly.

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