As long as Dach gives the Canadians a clean bill of health, things will get better.

The June 28 NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas, Nevada, is quickly coming. The Montreal Canadiens, who naturally have the fifth overall pick, are anticipated by many to select a forward to complete their top six, which will help their attack, which placed a dismal 26th in the league in 2023–24. That’s all just and reasonable.

The problem is that we should have realistic expectations for that eventual draft pick’s NHL debut. They most likely won’t sign with the Canadiens for a few years. However, when 2024–25 rolls around, the offense should benefit from at least one more top–five selection.

Kirby Dach Is About to Come Back
Drafted third overall in 2019, Kirby Dach is expected to make a comeback the following season after playing just two games to begin 2023–24 before sustaining an injury that ended his season. Though it’s reasonable to expect that, should he stay healthy, he will do a lot of the heavy lifting on a team that missed them by 15 points and lost 27 games by one goal, he won’t be able to carry the team into the playoffs on his own.

Of course, the Canadiens cannot promise to play in that many one-goal games in the future. Nevertheless, it seems to reason that they are at least better fortunate in that regard. Not even the fact that 16 of those contests ended in overtime or a shootout counts. Because they also won ten of these games, you can’t exactly say that it was a luck problem. It’s not quite statistically significant that the difference exists. More specifically, it’s those 11 previous one-goal games when the Habs could have won at least one point in the standings, if not two.