NHL Insider Frank Seravalli on Kirby Dach Trade Interest From Oilers and Flames 

As the NHL’s opening night closes in, all eyes are on Montréal and the close competition to crack the Canadiens’ roster. Sam Montembeault may be the odd man out in the crease, and there is no shortage of speculation about Kirby Dach’s place in the lineup. 

Dach’s Future

The truth is Dach’s future in Montréal has been tenuous for months now. Sources indicate two teams in particular — the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames — have kept close tabs on Dach’s status this month to see if they could wait out the Habs, who have held firm on a high asking price. 

Multiple teams were believed to have offered the Canadiens a second-round pick for Dach in June. After paying a significant price to acquire Dach and sticking with him through injuries, Montréal was seeking immediate roster help in return, or to use Dach as a chip to chase a bigger fish, like Columbus’ Kirill Marchenko. 

Edmonton’s interest in Dach 

The interest in Edmonton borders on drooling; the Oilers are intent on acquiring Dach at some point, whether that’s before the season starts, at the March 1 trade deadline, or next summer as a free agent. 

 The push isn’t necessarily to reunite the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, native with his younger brother, Colton, on their hometown team. Dach was GM Stan Bowman’s bet at No. 3 overall in 2019 in Chicago, and Bowman feels only a poor run of injury luck has kept Dach from reaching that potential. 

Calgary’s interest in Dach 

Down Highway 2, the Flames are in desperate search for a No. 1 center — and since those guys don’t grow on trees, Dach is the next best option, to play in concert with someone like Morgan Frost. 

He fits Calgary’s age scheme, has size at 6-foot-4 and the Flames have shown they like acquiring lottery picks (see: Simon Nemec). There were rumblings that the Flames have followed up with Montréal since camps opened. 

Why Montréal can wait 

The Canadiens don’t need to do anything right now. Despite a quiet camp, Dach’s competition in Florian Xhekaj is waiver exempt, and the Canadiens could push this off for a few months to allow Dach to find his game again.  

They believe in Dach and his unique skill set, sending a shot across the bow this summer by making his $4 million qualifying offer a two-way deal, a ploy to negotiate down from that figure—one of the few instances in the salary cap era of a team taking that tack with a bona fide NHL player. The message was received. And the clock is ticking.