Kent Hughes Gets 4 Goals From Kirby Dach in 10 Playoff Games
kent hughes is getting playoff production from two of his early summer swings, and Kirby Dach has become the clearer payoff. Dach has four goals in 10 playoff games, good for second on the Canadiens through that stretch, even after a regular season limited to 37 games.
Kirby Dach’s 10-game run
Dach’s scoring has come after Montreal paid a real price to get him at the 2022 draft. The Canadiens sent a first-round pick they had acquired in the Alexander Romanov deal with the New York Islanders to Chicago for the forward, and he is now carrying a scoring load the club wanted when it made that move.
He has done it while skating with Zachary Bolduc, giving Montreal another forward line that has produced when the games tightened. For a player whose first three seasons in Montreal were heavily affected by knee injuries and surgeries, the four goals across 10 playoff games are the first clean sign that the bet can still cash in a meaningful spot.
Alex Newhook and Montreal’s depth
Newhook arrived a year later, when Hughes added him at the 2023 draft for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, and a prospect. He had 34 points in 55 games in 2023-2024, then 26 points in 82 games the following season before an ankle fracture against the Dallas Stars forced surgery.
He returned before the end of the season, and that matters because Montreal is now leaning on the kind of depth Hughes tried to build with two consecutive summer trades. Newhook’s path has been bumpier than Dach’s, but both players are part of the same roster answer: young forwards acquired to add scoring around the Canadiens’ core.
Hughes’ early trades
The two deals show the same approach from Hughes. He used premium draft capital to bring in players who were young enough to grow with the group, and the playoffs are where that strategy gets judged most harshly. Dach is already second on the team in playoff goals, while Newhook’s return gives Montreal another option if the run extends deeper.
For Canadiens followers, the immediate takeaway is simple: two early trades that once carried only future value are now producing in the present. Dach’s four goals in 10 playoff games are the clearest number in the story, but Newhook’s return after ankle surgery gives Montreal a second forward the club traded heavily to add.
