Kirby Dach deleted all of his social media apps around the end of December, realizing the negativity was getting to him.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2022
Ever since, he's become more comfortable being who he is right now: a "checking, shutdown role." He said he "started having good games after" he deleted them.
Dach: "Something that each player on this team has been doing is trying to find their own role. If that's gonna be my role, I'm going to play it like that.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2022
[But] I'd like to score and get points, because that's all everyone on social media thinks the game of hockey is about."
That "checking, shutdown role" that Dach is referring to is something that should have been his role not only to start his NHL career but remain that way for a few seasons until he was truly ready to graduate to a top 6 scoring line. Flashes of skill tease that he has such talent but the capacity to consistently be a game breaker evades him.
A common argument has been that Dach was rushed to the NHL to begin with and he should have stayed one more season in juniors after being drafted 3rd overall in 2019. Even if there is the counter-argument that he was NHL ready at that point in time, most would agree that he hasn't been ready to be leaned on as a 1C or even 2C so early in his career.
It's not too late for Dach to gain his confidence in a checking role now as he's more than halfway through his third season in the NHL. He just turned 21 and is a few years from hitting his prime if he reaches potential. Yet, the fear is what if the damage has been done to degrade that potential and relegate him to "just a guy" status in the pros.
On the one hand, it's not the worst thing if Dach's water level is as a checking center who is dependable defensively and executes offensively around a 0.50 PPG clip. But on the other hand, the disappointment will loom as the Hawks used a 3rd overall pick on this player type when legit 1st liners in Trevor Zegras and Dylan Cozens were still on the board.
--
IceHogs Game Summary
Starting Lineup
Altybarmakian - Reichel - Teply Howarth - McLaughlin - Busdeker Barratt - Slavin - Gicewicz Pour - G Mitchell - Gabriel
Phillips - I Mitchell Beaudin - Galvas Kalynuk - Regula
Soderblom Morris
Abridged Boxscore
Regulation (0-0): None Shootout (1-0): Reichel
IceHogs: * Teply (goal) * Reichel (goal) * I Mitchell (miss)
Wolves: * Noesen (goal) * Poturalski (miss) * Drury (miss)
SOG For/Against: 17/36 PP: 0-for-3 PK: 4-for-4
Game Notes
* Arvid Soderblom was a rock in net earning his first AHL shutout with a 36-save performance.
* Wyatt Kalynuk made his return to the Hogs after an uneventful call-up to the Hawks and was paired with Alec Regula who returned from a minor injury.
* Lukas Reichel sat out the latter part of overtime after suffering a knee-on-knee hit administered by Jamison Rees but luckily returned to score the shootout winner.
* Michal Teply may get criticism for not being a quick and agile skater but he backchecks in his own end and fights for pucks in his offensive zone.
Highlights
HIGHLIGHTS: Arvid Soderblom makes 36 saves for the 1-0 SHOOTOUT SHUTOUT WIN over the Wolves! WOO! pic.twitter.com/OmcTCFyxKc
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) January 30, 2022
See you on the boards!