FEATURE: Dach's Rookie Growth Brings Excitement for the Future

Kirby Dach's first 14 months as an NHLer won't be ones he soon forgets.
From a surprising selection at No. 3 overall in late June 2019 to a
wild tour around his new home in Chicago
just days later. A
dominant start to rookie camp
as the summer turned to Fall in Traverse City, Mich., followed soon after by a stint in concussion protocol
that derailed his first run at an NHL training camp
. Then, a
nine-game trial with the Blackhawks
that saw his first NHL goal and enough promise
to turn it into a full-year stay
. A casual four-month pandemic delay to the season, an unexpected bid into the unusual postseason format and, finally, getting nine playoff games under his belt before entering his first official NHL offseason in late August. It's been quite the ride.

"There's a lot of things that I did well in my rookie year, but there's a lot of things that I wasn't really happy with overall," Dach said this week, looking back on his first season as a whole. "Obviously it was a long year with the COVID break and everything with that. Within that time I was able to reflect more on the regular season and figure out what I wanted to change and what I was happy with, but at the same time, to improve upon."

In 64 games before the season's pause, the rookie center scored eight goals and 15 assists. All told, not a bad debut, finishing just outside the top 10 among rookie skaters in both categories and on par with the two other picks from last summer who stepped onto the NHL stage right away, Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko.
It was, though, one of highs and lows, including a five-game point streak in mid-November, followed by a single point in his next 28 outings through mid-January. The grind of an NHL season, coupled with the taxing 12 months leading up to his NHL debut had seemingly caught up with the rookie.
"I skated pretty much for 18 straight months starting from last season (in juniors), my draft year, all the way to the COVID break," he said. "Everything happened so fast. You get drafted, you have development camps, you have World Junior camps and you've got main camp and rookie camp come up right after that. There's not a lot of time to really get in the gym and workout and recover and rest after your draft year. It ramps up pretty fast."
The 19-year-old started finding the scoresheet again just before the joint All-Star and bye-week break with a goal and two assists in the final two outings. He bounced back even more after the brief hiatus -- perhaps a sign of things to come -- finishing the regular season with some of his most consistent play of the year, a goal and eight assists over 19 games before the world stopped in mid-March. It was just the mandated break from hockey that Dach needed.

"Not being on the ice really rejuvenated my game," he said, calling the pause a blessing in disguise. And he was far from the only one who took notice of his new presence, swagger and flat-out dominance on the ice in the first days back. From management all the way down through the Blackhawks roster, Dach was all the buzz.
"He put in the work," Senior Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman said when the Blackhawks arrived in Edmonton in late July. "You can see now, he's been one of the most noticeable players over the last two weeks."
During the nine-game playoff stint in the bubble, an exhibition game notwithstanding, Dach solidified himself as the second-line center for head coach Jeremy Colliton, as well as a force on the top power play unit and, for the first time all season, a factor on the penalty kill. He finished with six points (1G, 5A) in nine games, tied for fourth in team scoring.
"Coming back for the playoffs and the play-in games, I was confident in my abilities and I was ready to go," Dach said. "I think I've got to find that same swagger to bring that into next season and continue developing into the player I want to be."

Now into his first official offseason -- although one that could end up being shorter than the season pause -- Dach is ready to continue with his new-found training regimen that paid dividends during the late summer showcase. The focus now, he says, is on being a stronger physical presence to protect the puck better and be more dominant in physical battles in the corners and in front of the net.
"Everything," he plainly put when asked what he wants to improve upon. "You can never be fast enough, your shot can never be hard enough.
"I'll have some people look over my games this year and look at areas that I can improve offensively, defensively and where I can be better with and without the puck. In the gym, I'm going to kind of keep the same routine I got going during COVID and still work on my agility and my movement and make sure my body's always flowing, it's always in a good state where I'm not too rigid and gaining too much muscle by weightlifting and trying to bulk up. I want to add weight the right way."
He's only 19 years old, but the immense growth Dach has shown in the last 14 months from the very first time he pulled on the Blackhawks sweater has both he and the organization excited about what the future might hold if his current trajectory holds true.
"I want to keep getting better every day," Dach said, "and find a way to elevate my game to become an impact player each and every night for the organization."