Blackhawks: Reacting to the Kirby Dach selection one year later

It’s been officially one year and one day since Kirby Dach was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks. At first, fans weren’t too excited about the pick, after one year though, fans have changed their tune.

When Kirby Dach was selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks, I was a tad bit disappointed. If the Blackhawks were going to pick a center, I wanted them to look at Alex Turcotte. If they were going defense, I wanted them to look at Bowen Byram.

On draft day, there were rumors of Brent Seabrook being traded to the Vancouver Canucks. The trade was rumored to have Seabrook and the third overall pick for the 10th pick in the draft. There’s a decent chance Dach would have fallen to 10. Either way, Dach and Seabrook are both in Chicago, with Turcotte and Byram being with their respective teams.

The hype of the draft was Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko. Both Hughes and Kakko didn’t perform as well as scouts projected they would their rookie years. Dach was just as good as both players, with all three of them having high upsides as they get older. The rookie that surprised the Blackhawks was Dominik Kubalik, not Dach.

Still, Dach had a decent regular season, scoring eight goals with 15 assists for 23 points in 64 games.

Dach has played well defensively and has been very physical. Obviously, we haven’t seen the best of him, he’s not even close to his prime, but with those 64 games we saw, I am happy with the draft choice.

Dach has the potential to be a very special player. He benefits by practicing with Jonathan Toews every day. Chances are, he will be the guy who takes Toews’ role when Toews retires. It’s either Dach or Dylan Strome who will take on that responsibility. Still, I’m excited and can’t wait to see what Dach does in the playoffs.

Even if the Blackhawks are out in the play-in round, players like Dach, Kubalik, Strome, Alex DeBrincat, and Adam Boqvist, among others, get their first playoff experience. It’ll help them out as the team moves forward.

I think fans do owe Kirby Dach an apology since they did overreact when he was selected. 23 points in a rookie season on the third line isn’t terrible. The future is bright for young Kirby Dach.