Canadiens: This Is Not A Sign Of Things To Come
On Tuesday, as Cole Caufield was away from the Montreal Canadiens‘ informal practice attending the NHL 2026-27 player media tour, Kirby Dach skated alongside Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky in the red-vs.-white scrimmage. Don’t read too much into that line combination. A spot on the circle-of-friendship win celebration may get you a spot on the top line for a scrimmage game, but it doesn’t get you a spot there when Martin St-Louis is calling the shots.
Cole Caufield’s chair on the top line is more than safe; it’s guaranteed, and if someone ever were to unseat him, it wouldn’t be a player who has yet to manage to prove anything at the highest level. Of course, Dach has been hampered by numerous injuries, and while everyone feels for him, it doesn’t get him a fast pass to the front of the most thrilling ride in Habsland.
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While Dach has a certain pedigree, he was drafted third overall in the 2019 draft; after all, he still finished the playoffs on the fourth line on the wing. Furthermore, the Canadiens found a way around signing him to a four-million-dollar qualifying offer by making it a two-way contract, which prompted Dach to file for arbitration; in the end, he signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract.
As things stand, Dach is not on solid ground with the Canadiens, and he won’t start the season ahead of players such as Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen in the depth chart; at least, he shouldn’t. While the Albertan was inconsistent in the playoffs, Newhook delivered a fantastic performance, not only putting up 10 points in 19 games but also scoring two of his seven goals in Game 7; he had both series-winning goals. One could argue that the goaltenders weren’t exactly great on those plays, but it doesn’t matter; when the Canadiens needed a goal, Newhook found a way.
Newhook scores SERIES-WINNER in Game 7 for MONTREAL!
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As for Kapanen, who finished the playoffs centering the fourth line after being a healthy scratch at times and playing in only 10 of the 19 playoff games, he was a rookie. It’s not new for a rookie to hit a proverbial wall and lose speed towards the end of a grueling first complete season in North America. That doesn’t erase the fact that he managed to score 22 goals in his rookie season, and while some will be quick to say that it’s easy to score with a magician like Ivan Demidov feeding you the puck, one fact remains: you still need the instinct to get in the right spot and to actually put the puck in, which is much easier said than done.
If Kent Hughes had managed to get a second-line center in a trade this offseason, Kapanen’s spot would be far from guaranteed, but as things stand, you can’t erase history. The line formed by Newhook, Kapanen, and Demidov was doing very well until Newhook was injured, and it deserves another go now that everyone is rested and healthy again. It’s also worth mentioning that Newhook is entering a contract year, and he’ll be eager to prove that he deserves to be added to the Canadiens’ core for a long time. After the playoffs he’s had, he certainly deserves that opportunity.
Could Dach get another look in the top six down the line? Certainly, but he’ll have to earn that look; it won’t just be given to him, or at least it shouldn’t.
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