Kirby Dach has officially filed for salary arbitration, and the fine print on how he got there says plenty about where the Canadiens see him right now.
According to Eric Engels, Dach received a two-way qualifying offer from Montreal, not the standard one-way deal most NHL regulars get.
The reason is buried in games played. Dach appeared in just 37 games this season, well short of the 60-game threshold that normally locks in a one-way QO.
Zoom out further and it gets worse. Over the last three seasons combined, Dach has played less than 180 games total, the other trigger that would have guaranteed one-way security.
So the Canadiens went two-way. That's their right under the rules, but it's also a quiet signal about how much they trust his health and his spot on the roster heading into next season.
Dach carried a cap hit of 3,362,500 dollars and finished this season with 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in those 37 games, a -2 rating.
The drop-off shows up hard in the shorter samples. Over his last 10 games, Dach managed just 1 point and went minus-5. Over his last 5, he was held scoreless and sat at minus-4.
Why Montreal's arbitration math got complicated
That's the version of Dach the Canadiens are negotiating against right now, not the one who arrived in the Patrik Laine trade with top-six expectations.
A two-way QO means Dach's salary could drop to AHL levels if he ever gets sent down, which is not nothing for a former third overall pick.
Montreal finished the season 48-24-10 for 106 points, sixth in the standings, so this isn't a rebuilding club looking to hoard futures. It's a team that needs its middle six to produce.
Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes now have to sort out what Dach's actual role looks like before an arbitrator does it for them.
Filing for arbitration usually means the two sides are far apart on term or dollars, and a two-way QO on the table doesn't exactly speed up a friendly resolution.
The number that gets decided here won't just set Dach's salary. It'll say a lot about whether Montreal still believes he's a top-six piece or a reclamation project on a short leash.
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Should the Canadiens have given Kirby Dach a one-way qualifying offer despite his games-played numbers?
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