Kirby Dach's contract directly linked to Paul Byron's fate?

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Jeff Drouin
August 9, 2022 (9:33)

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To date, the Habs have only two unsigned free agents in their entire organization, Kirby Dach and Cayden Primeau. Many are wondering what is taking so long to announce a deal with newcomer Dach. As always in the NHL, it seems to be a payroll issue.

As of today, the Habs have, according to CapFriendly, 22 contracts out of a possible 23 and a play of nearly $248,334 under the cap. So it wouldn't be surprising if Hughes tries to get some space before he gets along with Dach.

According to what Patrick Lortie, who is a freelance journalist and co-host of the "Puck and Roll" podcast, is reporting around the NHL that Dach already has a deal in the bag with the CH. His announcement would probably be linked to the fate of Paul Byron.

"The feeling around the NHL is that the Habs will likely wait until Paul Byron is placed on the LTIR before announcing Kirby Dach's extension. Of course, things could change in the coming weeks if salary can be moved. Executives are very slowly starting to return from vacation."

It will be recalled that Byron had a difficult 2021-2022 season due to a lower-body injury that forced him to make several attempts at the game that all ended up being unsuccessful. In early July, at former Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme's annual golf tournament, Byron had mentioned that he was slow to recover from the injury.

"I'm still not where I want to be at this point in the summer and there's still a lot of work to be done, but there's still a lot of time ahead of me" - Paul Byron

He was also very hesitant about being ready for training camp.

"Honestly, I don't know. When I was talking to the doctors at the end of the season, everyone thought it was going to be two, three, four weeks. But now it's July and I haven't started training yet. It's a little frustrating because the injury isn't healing like it should." - Paul Byron

So the fact that there is talk here of placing him on the long-term injured list is not surprising...