The Montreal Canadiens are still searching for a true top-line forward. While the organization continues evaluating internal options and potential external solutions, respected hockey analyst Grant McCagg has floated a bold and unexpected idea: Kirby Dach on the first line.
You read that right.
McCagg argues that the 25-year-old No. 77 deserves a genuine opportunity in a role that better matches the skill set he can bring when healthy and confident. Dach is coming off a difficult 2024-25 campaign limited to just 15 points in 37 games, but the projection is less about rewriting his recent numbers and more about redistributing talent. McCagg’s central goal is straightforward—spread the Canadiens’ skill more evenly across the top two lines rather than concentrating it in one high-powered unit.
His projected lineup looks like this:
Forwards Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Kirby Dach Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov Zachary Bolduc – Jake Evans – Alex Newhook Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier/Owen Beck
Defense Kaiden Guhle – Noah Dobson Lane Hutson – David Reinbacher Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier/Arber Xhekaj
Goaltenders Jakub Dobes Jacob Fowler
The most eye-catching element is obviously Dach’s placement alongside Suzuki and Caufield. Moving a player who struggled for consistency last season into a top-line role is a calculated risk. Yet McCagg’s thinking is that Dach’s size, reach, and playmaking ability could complement Suzuki’s elite vision and Caufield’s finishing if given sustained ice time and trust. The alternative—continuing to search externally for a high-end winger—carries its own cost and uncertainty. This internal experiment costs nothing but opportunity.
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The biggest winner in McCagg’s proposal is Ivan Demidov. By pairing the highly touted young Russian with Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored 30 goals last season, Demidov would receive meaningful support and complementary skill on the second unit. Oliver Kapanen would return to center that line, giving the Finnish pivot two dynamic wingers who can create space and finish plays. Surrounded by that caliber of talent, Kapanen would have the ideal environment to rediscover the form he showed early last season and establish himself as a legitimate top-six center.
On the back end, McCagg pairs Lane Hutson with David Reinbacher on the second pairing. The young Austrian defenseman would still need a strong training camp to lock down that role, but the projection reflects growing organizational belief in Reinbacher’s upside when paired with a mobile, puck-moving partner like Hutson. The remaining pairs—Guhle with Dobson and Matheson with Carrier or Xhekaj—offer a blend of size, mobility, and defensive reliability that aligns with the direction the Canadiens appear to be heading.
It is only a projection, of course. Line combinations at this stage of the offseason are speculative by nature. Yet McCagg carries credibility. Last year he correctly anticipated Kapanen seizing the second-line center role, an observation that aged well as the season unfolded. That track record gives this latest idea weight beyond pure novelty.
Whether the Canadiens ultimately experiment with Dach on the top line remains to be seen. What McCagg has done is force a conversation about how Montreal can maximize its existing pieces rather than waiting for the perfect external addition. Spreading talent across two competitive lines, giving Demidov and Slafkovsky a chance to build chemistry, and testing Dach in a higher-leverage role represent a coherent internal plan. For a team still building toward contention, that kind of calculated creativity may prove more valuable than another high-priced free-agent signing.