Kirby Dach signs one-year extension with Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed Kirby Dach to a one-year contract extension carrying an average annual value of $3.6 million. The two parties avoid the arbitration hearing that Dach had elected for on July 5.

Dach had been extended a qualifying offer for $4 million on June 29, an amount mandated by the collective bargaining agreement to be equal to his 2025-26 salary. The contract had a two-way structure, however, with different salaries for the NHL and AHL level, as the oft-injured forward didn’t reach the games-played thresholds to guarantee a one-way NHL salary.

He played just 37 games in 2025-26, bringing the total over the duration of the four-year contract he had been signed to in the summer of 2022 to a mere 154 games. He was a strong producer in his first season in Montreal, scoring 14 goals and finishing with 38 points in 58 games, but sustained a serious knee injury two games into the 2023-24 season that kept him out for the remainder of the campaign, and he produced just 37 points over the past two seasons combined.

He did play all 19 of the Habs’ post-season games this spring with a respectable -1 rating. He ranked 14th on the roster with five playoff points, but was tied for third with four even-strength goals.

Initially acquired in hopes that he could becoming the team’s second-line centre, Dach has now largely settled into a third-line winger role, with faceoff ability that isn’t up to the level needed for the centre position. The management staff likely believes he will stay on the wing as the search for a second-line centre that Kent Hughes has been on since taking the helm continues.