Kent Hughes may have already acquired the next Kirby Dach for the Canadiens

For several weeks now, Kent Hughes has stated that he has a clear goal of completing another trade like the one that brought Kirby Dach to Montreal.

Hughes wants to complete another such trade this summer, which would be great, but the answer may already be within the Canadiens organization.

What if the next Kirby Dach is already on the Habs' roster? This would be huge for the organization's success, and we may have the answer.

Juraj Slafkovsky's season has been filled with ups and downs. Many expected more from the young man who was chosen first overall in the 2022 draft. An injury ultimately ended his season, leaving him no chance to recover in the second half of the campaign.


However, we must remember that the young Slovak is only 18 years old. His transition to North American hockey, having played on Olympic-sized ice in Europe last season, also makes things more difficult for him. We have seen it several times this season when he was often violently hit by opponents.

As Stéphane Waite recently mentioned in a segment on RDS's L'Antichambre, we must be patient with Slafkovsky.

The former goaltending coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Canadiens even pointed out a similarity between the young man's situation and that of his new teammate, Kirby Dach. Waite hopes that the CH will not make the same mistakes as the Blackhawks made with their rookie.

We saw it this season; Dach completely came out of his shell under Martin St-Louis's guidance. However, it took until his 4th full season in the NHL before we saw the full potential of the 3rd overall pick in the 2019 draft. Patience is essential with Slafkovsky, as many of the questions surrounding him today are the same as those that surrounded Dach at the beginning of his career.

In his challenging NHL debut, Slafkovsky accumulated 4 goals, 6 assists for a total of 10 points in 39 games. This is slightly less than what Dach had in his first season in the league when he finished with 23 points in 64 games. Who knows how the Slovak would have finished the season?

In conclusion, the "next" Kirby Dach could already be with the Canadiens, in Juraj Slafkovsky.

Let's be patient.


Credits: HF