3 Montreal Canadiens who must make up for loss of Kirby Dach

The Montreal Canadiens (1-1-1) have had a decent start to their season, but with Kirby Dach now ruled out for the rest of the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL and MCL, things might get rocky in a hurry.

Before going down with his devastating knee injury against his old team, the Chicago Blackhawks, Dach was arguably the Canadiens' most effective forward. His line, which was completed by Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook, out-attempted the Toronto Maple Leafs 13-6 in their first game of the season. Dach's expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) of 63.35 percent that night was the third-best figure on the team, trailing only Slafkovsky (69.74) and defenseman Kaiden Guhle (73).

If the Canadiens are still going to have a successful season, these three players will need to step up.

3. Juraj Slafkovsky

With his center now out of commission, the newest challenge in the young Slafkovsky's career is for him to find chemistry with some of his other teammates. Against the Minnesota Wild, Newhook and Slafkovsky were joined on a line by veteran Tanner Pearson, but that didn't go so well. Their line was out-attempted 7-5 and only created one scoring chance compared to the five their opponents had on them.

After missing most of his rookie season through his own injury, the onus is on the now-healthy 2022 No. 1 overall pick to show why he was chosen at the top of the order. Slafkovsky's underlying numbers have looked strong early on, but eventually, pucks need to start getting to the back of the net.

For future's sake, head coach Martin St. Louis and the Canadiens would be wise to leave Newhook and Slafkovsky together; they might have something there. However, this is a club that is seeking to take the next step forward, and the fans expect the same. Montreal desperately needs Slafkovsky to continue to elevate his game.