TOO MANY CENTRES LIKELY MEANS DACH WILL SHIFT TO WING
Blackhawks forward aiming to make mark at this world juniors
Kirby Dach was the centre of attention in the NHL'S Return to Play in August in Edmonton, getting as much ice time as Jonathan Toews for the Chicago Blackhawks.
But Dach will be on right wing on what appears to be the top line for Team Canada in the upcoming world junior championship.
While Prince Albert Raiders coach Marc Habscheid, who had to go against Dach over and over in junior in Saskatoon, says Dach, “reminds me of a young Ryan Getzlaf with his long reach,” he's needed more on the right side on Team Canada coach Andre Tourigny's team.
“The reality of our lineup is we maybe have 10 centres, so someone has to play the wing,” Tourigny said. “Kirby played the wing for us at the Hlinka Gretzky (Cup) here and he was really good (2018). I had a good talk with him and he was OK with wherever he plays ... he didn't say it was a big deal where he played. He knows he can play both. His compete (level) is phenomenal, he's got great leadership.
“So far playing with (Dylan) Cozens and (Jack) Quinn ... they've got a bit of everything.”
Dach, who didn't play in the world juniors last year because the Hawks wouldn't release him, was surprisingly told he was on this Canadian roster on a call from his Chicago landlord, Brent Seabrook.
“That was pretty special. I know he played on the 2005 team and we watched the world junior together last year,” said Dach.
Of the 14 forwards on Tourigny's team, only four are wingers — Jack Quinn (Buffalo), Cole Perfetti ( Winnipeg), Jakob Pelletier (Calgary) and Philip Tomasino ( Washington). The other 10 either play centre all the time on their junior teams like Quinton Byfield (Los Angeles) and Ryan Suzuki (Carolina), or they can play in the middle and can easily slide over to the wing.
Like Cozens (Sabres), Connor Mcmichael (Capitals), Alex Newhook (Hurricanes), Dylan Holloway (Oilers), Connor
Zary (Flames), Dawson Mercer (Devils), Peyton Krebs (Golden Knights) and the aforementioned Dach, is also in the running for team captaincy with defenceman Bowen Byram.
It's the same story with Canada's Olympic teams, of course, where they are top heavy with centres who wind up on the wing. So, off the last three days of world junior practice in Red Deer before the team bused to Edmonton on Sunday to enter the bubble and quarantine until Friday practices, the four centres on regular lines are Cozens, Newhook, Mcmichael and Byfield, who has come on at the last three practices after a sluggish start to camp. Mercer and Suzuki are the 13th and 14th forwards.
Mcmichael, who was a breakout star with five goals in seven games at the 2020 World Junior, started on left wing with Cozens and Dach in scrimmages. But he'll be centring for Perfetti and Krebs based off practices.
“Mike played every position for us last year and we fully expect him to play both wings and centre for us this time ... he can do everything on the ice for me. He can go against the other team's best players,” said Tourigny.