In the end, Hughes and the Habs acquired Kirby Dach for almost nothing, here's why

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Jeff Drouin
August 11, 2022 (9:18)

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Do any of you remember the deal that brought Phillip Danault to the Habs? If not, let me refresh your memory a bit.

On February 26, 2016, Marc Bergevin shipped forwards Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for Danault and a second round pick in 2018.

Now we know what happened next. Danault has been one of the Habs' best center players over the past few years, while Weise and Fleischmann will have only been passing through Chicago. But we tend to forget that the second-round pick obtained in the trade allowed the Habs to select defenseman Alexander Romanov.

For many experts, this transaction was the best one made by Marc Bergevin and as reported by Danslescoulisses.com, the transaction continues to make small in 2022.

As we know, Kent Hughes traded Romavov to the New York Islanders and used his first round pick to acquire Kirby Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks. It is not yet known what impact the latter will have with the Habs, but an Internet user by the name of Costa Rontzocos posted a Tweet mentioning that Dach's arrival with the Habs had origins much further back than the transaction made in 2016 by Bergevin.

In fact, the Habs had acquired Dale Weise, involved in the Danault trade with the Blackhawks, from the Vancouver Canucks in return for defenseman Raphael Diaz. Basically, it's a bit like if Diaz had been traded for Kirby Dach, but 11 years later.

Montreal signed Raphael Diaz on May 13th 2011 and acquired Kirby Dach on July 8th 2022

11 year long link https://t.co/1Y3dV00OQG- Costa Rontzocos (@Rontzeeez) July 9, 2022

Considering that Diaz and Fleischmann were signed as free agents, it's almost as if the acquisition of Dach cost the Habs virtually nothing.

While it's still too early to gauge the impact Kirby Dach will have with the Habs, it's a string of good decisions by the organization that led to Dach's acquisition and it could prove to be a steal in a few years.