TORONTO — Jeremy Colliton has been asked about Kirby Dach’s nonexistent production a lot lately.
A third overall pick tallying just one point in 27 games will do that. But the Blackhawks coach has simply said, over and over, that he’s still happy with Dach’s play.
And then Saturday, he elaborated more on the party line.
“Of course you’d love to see him break through,” Colliton said. “But as far as how we evaluate his progression, we’re very happy with how he’s improved as the year’s gone on. He’s playing very well defensively, he’s physical, he’s got a great stick.”
“The points haven’t been there, but he’s been part of the production of some of the other guys throughout this stretch, where he’s played really well but he just happens to not touch the puck at the end. It doesn’t mean he’s not doing great things.”
Colliton is correct that Dach has been unlucky to not have a few more points than the 11 (in 42 games) that he does have.
He’s either scored or received an assist on just 56 percent of the 5-on-5 goals he’s been on the ice for. Only Ryan Carpenter and Matthew Highmore, two definitively defense-first forwards, have gotten fewer box score rewards for the goals they’ve helped produce.
But maybe Dach is definitively a defense-first forward, too.
That’s not what his draft position, scouting report or prospects tournament performance indicated he would be, at least immediately. He was pegged to be a two-way center — a Jonathan Toews-type guy years down the line — but most young players develop their offensive end first.
And yet more than halfway through his rookie NHL season, Dach is doing the opposite.
“I’ve always wanted to be a complete centerman and find that two-way game, where you’re able to be counted on to defensively and offensively,” Dach said Saturday. “I’ve worked hard on that aspect.”
Dach’s season so far can be essentially divided into three portions.
His first 11 games, he had no stable linemates and played very few minutes — 10 per game at 5-on-5. The results were fine, but they weren’t very interesting.
His next 16 games, he started to develop some line consistency — Carpenter and Zack Smith were alongside him more often than not — and his 5-on-5 minutes increased to just under 12 per game. After a torrid four-game stretch, this is when Dach really struggled: he was out-scored 7-0 over a 12-game period, and his on-ice scoring chance ratio sat at a miserable 42.1 percent.
Over the last 15 games (entering Saturday), Dach has played a lot alongside Alex DeBrincat and his minutes are up to about 13.5 per game.
He’s been on the ice for seven Hawks goals (and six against), even though he’s recorded just one point individually. His offensive role has decreased, partially due to playing with a shoot-first guy like DeBrincat: he’s taken just 17.8 percent of the Hawks’ shot attempts during his shifts, down from 23.0 percent before, which was already low.
And yet he’s become fantastic defensively.
For the season, Dach ranks second among 14 team forwards in limiting opponent shot attempts per minute, and only Highmore (with his mere 18 appearances) is better. Over the past 15 games, Dach has only improved that rate, despite playing with a defender as historically poor as DeBrincat.
That’s better than Toews, Carpenter, Brandon Saad and David Kampf — all considered excellent defensive forwards.
The Hawks will certainly want Dach’s offensive side to reveal itself eventually — and the sooner, the better. But if this is the path he takes to stardom, there’s nothing wrong with it.
