Montreal Canadiens rumored to be shopping Kirby Dach in potential trade packages
The Montreal Canadiens have been relatively quiet this offseason, outside of extending their own players with new contracts for Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes. However, it doesn’t seem the lack of moves is from a lack of trying.
One player the Canadiens could trade to help in that goal is restricted free agent Kirby Dach. The Canadiens made the surprising decision of extending a qualifying offer, mainly due to the hefty price tag of $4 million, but they could have done it in hopes of including him in a trade package. Recently, David Pagnotta was on DFO Rundown and essentially confirmed that suspicion.
“They obviously presented him with his qualifying offer, so that could be accepted. I think it’s just over $4 million or something like that, but whether that is or not, his name has been circulating around the trade world,” Pagnotta said.
“The Canadiens are still looking to upgrade their 2C position, and they have been obviously engaged in talks with other teams, and some of their other star players to add to their arsenal. Maybe Dach is a player that’s utilized in some type of package along those named.”
Montreal Canadiens made the curious decision to extend qualifying offer to Kirby Dach
Dach has spent the past four seasons in Montreal after they traded for the center with the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, injuries have limited his impact as he has averaged less than 40 games per season.
While it makes sense that the Canadiens didn’t want to lose him for nothing and extending a qualifying offer, it seems hard to believe that there is much interest out there for Dach. He hasn’t developed as expected and can’t be expected to have a big role due to durability issues.
There may still be teams out there that believe in the upside of Dach, as he is only 25 years old. General manager Kent Hughes might have gotten that indication and believed he could move him in some trade package to upgrade their Top 6.
However, it is hard to believe that he brings much value in any kind of trade discussions and the Canadiens may be stuck with a bottom-six center with a sizable cap hit.
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