NHL Exec On Dach: ‘No More Than $1.7 AAV; 2 Years Max’

Kirby Dach cost the Montreal Canadiens quite a lot on the NHL trade market but according to one NHL executive source, don’t expect him to cost that much on his next contract.

“The jury’s still out on him and he and his agent know that,” the source told Montreal Hockey Now Tuesday afternoon. “I’m thinking no more than $1.7 AAV; 2 years max.”

That still means that the Canadiens are likely going to be busy on the NHL trade market or maybe even the waiver market before the 2022-23 regular season kicks off for them against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 12. However, as Canadiens executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton said on the Bob McCown Podcast three weeks ago, that wouldn’t simply be to accommodate Dach’s new contract and shed cap space.

“Yes, you can always do more. We’d like to add a few things before the start of next season,” said Gorton when asked if the Canadiens were done moving players this offseason. “Whether that happens, I don’t know. We have 15-16 forwards up front already and we have some young players we want to take a look at on defence and at forward. We could do something in the next little while too.”

As my partner-in-scribe at MHN, Marco D’Amico pointed out when writing on that Gorton interview, a lot, arguably more depends on the status of goalie Carey Price ($10.5M AAV) and forward Paul Byron ($3.4M AAV):

‘With the market being what it is right now, it will be interesting to see if something shakes loose before NHL training camps. The Canadiens will also be waiting to see where the health of Paul Byron and Carey Price will be at that time; as it will give them more flexibility, at least at the start of the season, to sign all their guys.’

The same source above agreed with Marco:

“Honestly, Dach is likely the least of their worries; they will figure that out and then it’s up to him to prove himself.”

That’s what the Canadiens were hoping for when they dealt defenceman Alexander Romanov and the 98th overall pick to the New York Islanders in exchange for the 13th overall pick, and then flipped the 13th and 66th overall picks to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for center Kirby Dach. Since being drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks third overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, the 21-year-old Dach has 19 goals and 40 assists in 152 career NHL games.

According to this source, the 6-foot-4, 197-pound centre – who can also play wing – and his agent David Kaye have to know they’re leverage will come after Dach gets to finally realize his potential in arguably the toughest NHL market in the league.

“Like Frankie says about New York, in hockey, if you can make it Montreal, you can make it anywhere,” the source said with a chuckle. “This is the perfect chance for Dach to prove himself and hit pay dirt on his next contract.”