Kirby Dach circled at center ice Friday as a chorus of boos echoed through the United Center.
He skated toward Arvid Soderblom, with the game on his stick as the Canadiens’ third shootout taker, through the boos. He scored on Soderblom — lifting the Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks — through the boos. And he cupped his hand around his ear, staring daggers into the crowd, through the boos.
It was an ending that felt written in the stars.
In just a few months with Montreal, Dach has suddenly grown into the up-and-coming star the Hawks abruptly decided last summer that he’d probably never become. And he proved Friday how much he has changed. After three years of not fully capitalizing on most of his opportunities in Chicago, Dach confidently and thoroughly capitalized on this opportunity.
“I was excited,” Dach said. “Anytime you get to come back to a place you used to play and put on a show like that, it’s pretty good.
“I don’t think that’s ever changed, the confidence I’ve had in my game or anything like that. [I have the] same work ethic and same mentality. But at the same time, it does put a chip on your shoulder. You want to go out there and put your best foot forward and prove to people that you are who you are.”
Dach didn’t officially record a point Friday but still touts 17 in 21 games — a 66-point full-season pace — with the Canadiens this season. He tallied just 59 points in 152 total games for the Hawks — a 32-pace pace.
His analytics are also impressive. His expected-goals ratio at five-on-five sits at 51.6%; with the Hawks, it was 47.3%, 38.8% and 45.6% in his three seasons, respectively.
One tangible change is he’s now playing wing rather than center — on the Canadiens’ first line, no less, alongside fellow young stars Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. He said it hasn’t required any major adjustments, but it has decreased the impact of his faceoff woes while seemingly unlocking far more offensive upside.
“He has all the tools,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “He thinks the game pretty well, he’s got size, he sees the ice, he wins battles, he’s got a strong stick and [he uses] his stick defensively. He’s putting it all together here through the first quarter of the season.”
“I’m not surprised to see the success he’s having. He has fit in quite well with not just the players he’s playing with, but [also] the brand that we’re trying to play here. He has been a great addition.”
The funny thing is almost all those attributes were evident during Dach’s Hawks tenure, too. He just never put it all together. But perhaps that due to inexperience, youth, pressure or misuse rather than inability.
“There’s no way, with that much talent at [age] 21, that you’re ready to give up on anybody,” St. Louis added postgame.
The lingering question now, and for the foreseeable future, will be as such: Would Dach have experienced such a fourth-year breakout if the Hawks had kept him?
The answer will never be conclusively determined — and the future career path of prospect forward Frank Nazar, whom the Hawks chose with the 13th overall pick they received in the trade, will affect how hotly the topic is debated. But there are believable arguments both ways.
On one hand, Dach’s self-confidence and attitude were evidently wavering last year, to the point he might’ve truly needed a change of scenery to refresh himself. On the other hand, maybe this was always coming and the Hawks were simply too impatient.
The Canadiens and Dach himself don’t — and won’t — need to dedicate a single brain to that hypothetical, though.
Initially projected to be a bottom-of-the-standings lottery contender alongside the Hawks and Coyotes, they improved to a 11-9-1 with their win Friday. Their surprising success has been fueled by breakout or revival seasons from a number of integral players: Suzuki, Flames castoff Sean Monahan, undrafted defenseman Arber Xhekaj, backup goalie Sam Montembeault and — arguably headlining the list — Dach.
“Montreal, they wanted me to be there,” Dach said. “That’s a blessing as a player, when you’re wanted. [I’m] just focused on Montreal and haven’t really thought...too much about not being wanted here [in Chicago].”
