{"id":415646,"date":"2026-01-19T08:15:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T08:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/415646\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:15:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T08:15:01","slug":"kirby-dach-sends-strong-return-signal-ahead-of-senators-game-as-lineup-changes-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/415646\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirby Dach sends strong return signal ahead of Senators Game as lineup changes loom"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Nov <\/p>\n

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

We have good news for you today, from the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n

We could see some major returns to the lineup tonight against the Ottawa Senators!<\/p>\n

Friday in Ottawa, Kirby Dach sent the signal Montreal had been waiting for.<\/p>\n

He was on the ice at practice wearing a regular jersey.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t confirm a return to play on Saturday, but it’s rarely a coincidence.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens don’t allow contact “just for fun” for a player who isn’t ready.<\/p>\n

On top of that, it comes at the perfect time in a week where everything is moving.<\/p>\n

When the organization frees up roster spots and injured players are skating, you can feel the lineup is about to change quickly.<\/p>\n

Kirby Dach back in the lineup as soon as tonight?<\/p>\n

That’s the announcement we’ll be watching for today.<\/p>\n

Before his injury, Dach had played 15 games, with 5 goals and 2 assists, for a total of 7 points.<\/p>\n

In his NHL career, he has 284 games played and 128 points.<\/p>\n

And it’s not as if Montreal doesn’t know what he can bring.<\/p>\n

In 2022-2023, his first real season with the Canadiens, he recorded 38 points in 58 games.<\/p>\n

When you’ve already produced at that level here, you automatically become a piece the team wants back in the mix.<\/p>\n

Another detail is that Dach wasn’t alone at practice wearing a regular jersey.<\/p>\n

Jake Evans and Patrik Laine were also on the ice, which opens the door to a wave of decisions.<\/p>\n

The more players return, the more the Canadiens have to decide who stays in the lineup and who comes out.<\/p>\n

So, a return on Saturday? Possible.<\/p>\n

But until Martin St-Louis speaks at his press conference, caution is still warranted.<\/p>\n

A practice in a regular jersey is a major step.<\/p>\n

The official green light is another matter altogether.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the other important last-minute announcement from the Montreal Canadiens involves forwards Josh Anderson and Alexandre Texier, who both missed practice.<\/p>\n

So we’ll have several important situations to monitor today, especially during the morning skate live from Ottawa!<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

JANVIER 17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0823 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Kirby Dach sends strong return signal ahead of Senators Game as lineup changes loom<\/p>\n

Will Kirby Dach return on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images We have good news for you today, from the Montreal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[265,5,402,4687,412,264,21,5147,4,25,49722],"class_list":{"0":"post-415646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-canadiens","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-injury","11":"tag-kirby-dach","12":"tag-martin-st-louis","13":"tag-montreal","14":"tag-montreal-canadiens","15":"tag-montrealcanadiens","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-ottawa-senators","18":"tag-return-to-play"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115920773308487036","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}