Kirby Dach's name is floating around Oilers circles again, with one insider pitch putting him on Leon Draisaitl's wing.
The idea surfaced Monday afternoon from hockey insider account Hockey Vice, floating Dach as a fit next to Edmonton's superstar center.
Here's the case. Dach shoots right, he can win offensive zone draws, and at 25 he's still got size teams covet down the middle or on a wing.
But the numbers tell a rougher story right now. Dach finished the season with 15 points in 37 games, going minus-2 for the Canadiens.
His last 10 games were brutal. One point. A minus-5 rating. Five games before that, he didn't register a single point and sat at minus-4.
Draisaitl, meanwhile, closed out his year with 97 points in 65 games, 35 goals, 62 assists, and a plus-13 rating. He carries a $14,000,000 cap hit.
Dach's deal runs at $3,362,500. Cheap by comparison. That's part of why his name keeps coming up in these speculative scenarios.
Why Montreal has no reason to sell low on Dach
Here's the problem with this idea. Montreal finished the season at 48-24-10 for 106 points, sixth overall in the league. Kent Hughes has zero pressure to move a National Hockey League piece from a team that's actually good.
Edmonton finished 41-30-11 for 93 points, fourteenth overall. Head coach Mike Babcock and GM Stan Bowman are the ones with something to fix, not St-Louis and the Canadiens.
The two teams split their season series. Edmonton won 6-5 in October. Montreal answered back with a 4-1 win in December.
So why would the Canadiens ship out a former third overall pick coming off a down year, to a team they just beat twice as often as they lost to? They wouldn't. Not at this cap number, not on reputation alone.
Is there a version of this trade that makes sense for Montreal? Maybe, if Edmonton overpays with picks or a prospect Hughes actually wants.
-
Right now this reads like fan projection dressed up as trade buzz. Dach on Draisaitl's wing is a fun idea on paper. Whether Montreal ever picks up the phone is a different question entirely.
Would Kirby Dach actually thrive on Leon Draisaitl's wing in Edmonton?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand turn heads by joining Maple Leafs champion at special event
