Kirby Dach drew multiple second-round offers in June, and the Canadiens kept him. That call is getting picked apart again this week.
Frank Seravalli reported on Sept. 25 that several teams were believed to have offered Montreal a second-round pick for the 25-year-old forward.
The report had Habs fans arguing all over again this morning, with one poll asking flat out whether they'd have taken the deal.
Kent Hughes didn't take it. And Dach answered Tuesday night with an assist in a 3-2 win in Toronto to open the season.
He went plus-1 on a night when Alexandre Carrier scored the winner and Jakub Dobes posted a .929 save percentage.
One helper in the opener doesn't settle anything. Nobody is carving a statue outside the rink over a single assist in September.
But it does put something on the board for a player whose trade value apparently topped out at a second in June.
Kent Hughes now needs Dach to outplay his trade value
The money is where the pressure lives. Dach carries a $3,600,000 cap hit, and that's not bargain-bin territory.
Montreal is also paying Noah Dobson $9,500,000 on the blue line, so every mid-tier dollar up front gets scrutinized.
Here's my take: moving him for a second would have been a bad trade. Not close.
Dumping him for a second is like selling a car with a rattle for the price of its tires. You lose the ride and you're still walking home.
Second-round picks take years to pay off, if they pay off at all. Dach is 25 and already dressing in an NHL lineup.
Still, the market spoke. If several teams stopped at a second, that's what the league thought he was worth in June.
So what moves that price? Production, and nothing else.
The Canadiens sit fifth overall after one game, but the schedule tightens fast. Saturday brings a trip to Pittsburgh.
The Penguins are first in the league after a 7-0 road win in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Then comes a four-game homestand against Carolina, Nashville, Detroit and Buffalo, followed by a road game in Washington on the back half of a back-to-back.
Martin St-Louis will get a long look at what Dach brings before Halloween.
-
Hughes bet on the player over the pick. If the points dry up by December, will anyone still be offering a second?
Should Kent Hughes have taken a second-round pick for Kirby Dach in June?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Auston Matthews dealt by the Leafs in exchange for Russian star in bold 2026-27 prediction by DailyFaceoff
