Blackhawks: Predicting Kirby Dach’s Next Contract

The Chicago Blackhawks have an important extension to sign in their young star Kirby Dach. Here is how his upcoming extension could go down.

It is no doubt that Kirby Dach is one of the best young talents on the Blackhawks, as he is one of their bright spots for the future. Extending Dach is critical to the success of the Hawks’ future. This should be at the top of Stan Bowman’s to-do list.

There are a few players in the NHL who are in a similar situation as Dach. Andre Svechnikov and Jesperi Kotkanniemi are similar players to Dach when looking at where they were drafted and they have yet to sign their first extensions with their respective teams.

However, looking further back into previous drafts yields some interesting findings. Pierre Luc-Dubois drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets was drafted third overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. His first extension was a 2 year, 10 million dollar deal. Dubois was good for 48 points in his first 82 games in the NHL.

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Kirby Dach has played 82 games over 2 seasons in his young NHL career. Last season he produced 18 points over the course of 10 games. His wrist injury from the 2020 World Junior Championship has not been doing him any favors up to this point in his career. Even after returning from this injury late in the 2021 season, he was still having some difficulties getting back to hockey.

Let’s not kid ourselves, Kirby Dach is not Pierre Luc-Dubois. He has not yet been putting up numbers like a traditional third overall pick in the NHL draft should. However, he has shown a lot of promise and he will be looking for some decent money in his first extension.

The Blackhawks have 27 million dollars in cap space. Kirby Dach will be as expensive as the Blackhawks make him. If the Hawks wait to sign this extension until after next season, Dach will undoubtedly get more expensive. As long as he stays healthy, Dach is poised for a good season ahead of him.

On the flip side, if the Hawks decide to get Dach’s extension done within the next month or so, they can get him on a more affordable, bridge-like deal. The range of plausible contract values for Dach is fairly large, considering he was the third overall pick in the draft, yet he has not truly proven himself.

Considering Brandan Hagel makes $1.5 million a year, Dach will want significantly more than that. However, Dach does not really deserve Pierre Luc-Dubois’s money yet.

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I think Dach is in the neighborhood of receiving a 4 year, $16 million extension. If the Hawks can get away with Dach hitting the cap for 4 million dollars, they will be in good shape. Overall, the Blackhawks should be looking to get this extension signed soon. Dach looks to be an integral part of this team’s future.

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