If misery loves company, it seems only fitting that Canadiens forwards Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky are now playing on the same line.
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Dach has one goal and eight points through 21 games this season and is a team-worst minus-17. He hasn’t scored since Oct. 26. Slafkovsky also has only one goal, but has produced 11 points through 18 games. He has gone 14 games without scoring and was a minus-4 in one period alone last Saturday, against Vegas.
Only Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe (-18) has a higher total than Dach.
Both Dach and Slafkovsky are former first-round draft choices. Dach was selected third overall by Chicago in 2019, while Slafkovsky was the Canadiens’ first overall pick in 2022. And both should have the advantage of size working in their favour. Dach is 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds, while Slafkovsky is 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds.
After using Dach at right wing on Montreal’s top line, with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, head coach Martin St. Louis returned Dach to centre, where he’s more comfortable, Tuesday night against Utah, in between Slafkovsky and Joel Armia.
Both Dach and Slafkovsky failed to produce a point in the Canadiens’ 3-2 overtime loss. Dach had one shot, but was a minus-2. Slafkovsky had no shots and was a minus-1, although he was involved physically with five hits. Dach was on the ice for the winning goal, Nick Schmaltz eluding his check before passing to Mikhail Sergachev with 27 seconds left in overtime.
“His (Dach’s) confidence probably isn’t where it needs to be,” St. Louis said following Tuesday morning’s skate. “Putting him back in a familiar, more comfortable environment, we’re hoping that will boost his confidence.”
While Dach said he’s more comfortable playing centre — he lost three of five faceoffs against Utah — he has been slow to recover from the two torn ligaments he suffered in his right knee against Chicago in the second game of the 2023-24 campaign.
The injury, he admitted, sporadically weighs on his mind.
“Any time you go through a major injury in whatever sport there’s a grace period, a time period, where you’re still maybe not thinking about it,” Dach said Tuesday morning. “But you are thinking about it, if that makes sense.
“In terms of my game, it’s frustrating offensively. I haven’t been feeling what I normally can do out there. It just takes time, but it sucks waiting for time. You’re trying to speed it up. It’s tough missing a year and coming back.”
Dach is only 23, while Slafkovsky is 20. Both clearly have time on their side and management is far from giving up on either. While Dach at times appears to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, Slafkovsky generally remains upbeat, always laughing and joking in the dressing room.
But like many big-bodied players, there are times it seems Slafkovsky is coasting on the ice. He admits he must shoot more while becoming more involved in the play.
“It hasn’t been great, but you never know when it’s going to flip,” he said Tuesday morning. “I feel like once it flips it’s going to be good again. Right now, maybe, I’m too much in my head. Don’t think about anything. Just go out there and play.
“It was pretty tough on Saturday, but there’s nothing you can do about that. We can only smile today,” Slafkovsky admitted. “Life still is pretty good. There have been a couple of games that haven’t gone my way, but life is good. You can’t think about what happened in the past.”
Slafkovsky’s life will markedly improve next season, when the eight-year, US$60.8-million contract extension he signed last summer kicks in. And perhaps Wednesday night in Columbus will be the match in which Dach and Slafkovsky finally end their individual funks?
The Canadiens’ road trip continues with weekend afternoon games against the New York Rangers and Boston, Saturday and Sunday. Both defenceman Mike Matheson (lower-body injury) and forward Patrik Laine (knee) accompanied the team on its trip.