The National Hockey League's offseason is officially underway following last night's win by the Carolina Hurricanes, who captured their second Stanley Cup in franchise history and their first in two decades.
With the 2025-26 season wrapped up, we're about to enter one of the busiest parts of the National Hockey League calendar. Over the next 16 days, we'll see the announcement of the 2026 Hockey Hall of Fame class, the NHL Entry Draft, restricted free agent qualifying offer deadline and the opening of the unrestricted free agent window.
It's set to be an interesting period for the Montreal Canadiens as General Manager Kent Hughes is facing some big questions this summer. His club is hoping to take another step forward starting in the fall and many fans are wonder whether or not pending RFA Kirby Dach will be part of this group going forward.
Is Kirby Dach's time with the Montreal Canadiens coming to a close?
June 29th is a day that Montreal Canadiens fans should keep a very close eye on. Why is that day significant? All 32 franchises must submit a qualifying offer to restricted free agents in their organization by 5 pm ET or else those players will become unrestricted free agents on July 1st.
Kirby Dach is one of 11 restricted free agents that the Montreal Canadiens have this summer, however, his qualifying offer is the highest of any of them, coming in at $4 million USD. It's a steep price for Kent Hughes to pay and with Dach's inconsistent play & injury issues since arriving in Montreal, there's a realistic chance that he's not given a qualifying offer by June 29th and hits the open market as a UFA.
Dach was acquired by the Canadiens four years ago from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a first and a third round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Expectations surrounding Kirby Dach were sky high upon joining the Canadiens. He was a third overall pick and the Canadiens believed that he could be a key piece in their top-six for many years to come.
Instead, injury issues started becoming a constant problem for Dach. The Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta native has only appeared in 154 regular season games with the Canadiens, and missed 174 due to numerous injuries.
His first year with the Canadiens saw him suit up in 58 games before suffering an upper-body injury in late-March 2023, which ended his season prematurely. Two games into his second season in Montreal, Dach sustained a tear of his right ACL & MCL, again, ending his campaign early.
The injuries didn't stop there as in February 2025, Dach hurt his right knee once again, requiring season-ending surgery and this past season, a broken leg after blocking a shot during a game in the middle of November. That broken leg kept Dach out of the lineup for roughly two months and upon his return, his offensive struggles also continued.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Dach showed glimpses of his potential, especially in the first few games of their second round series against the Buffalo Sabres, but that play was unsustainable. The 25-year-old finished his fourth year in Montreal with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 37 regular season contests and five points in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
What should the Canadiens do with Kirby Dach?
So that leads us to the big question - what should the Montreal do with Kirby Dach? Well, it's safe to assume that Kent Hughes and the Canadiens front office don't have much of an appetite to give Kirby Dach that $4 million USD qualifying offer and based on his injury history, combined with his inconsistent play when healthy, that QO is more than what he likely would get from any team on the open market.
For that reason, Dach would be more inclined to accept his qualifying offer, should the Canadiens extend him one. But will they? With two weeks to go until the qualifying offer deadline, it's tough to handicap which way this situation could go. If the Canadiens are able to negotiate a one-year deal on a lower salary, perhaps in the $2-2.5 million range, then perhaps it wouldn't be the worst outcome. It allows Dach, who is healthy, as far as we know, to bet on himself a bit and a big offensive season could set him up for a pay raise in 2027.
But how much longer can the Canadiens afford to wait for Dach to break through offensively? The team has exited their rebuild and with back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs under their belt, the pressure is on to perform and expectations both internally & externally starting next season are high. The need for another offensive piece in that top-six was evident throughout the postseason, especially in the Eastern Conference Final.
Dach, unfortunately for the Canadiens, was unable to get the job done throughout his tenure in Montreal and for all parties involved, it's probably best to move on. Allowing Dach to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent on Canada Day after not issuing him a qualifying offer opens up an opportunity in training camp for someone else to jump at his spot.
In all likelihood, Dach's spot in the Canadiens lineup will need to be filled externally and if anyone has something up their sleeve, it's Kent Hughes, who has made a significant trade in each of four summers at the helm in Montreal.