Blackhawks' Dach could be secret to getting past Oilers

As Edmonton prepares to take on the Blackhawks in a best-of-five play-in series, the Oilers will have to figure out how to deal with Patrick Kane, Dominik Kubalik and Alex DeBrincat.

They'll also attempt to take advantage of a young defense corps and cash in with the best power-play unit in the league.

One thing they'd better not do, though, is sleep on Kirby Dach, who has clearly taken his game to the next level since the NHL paused its season in mid-March.

"He's been very noticeable with his skating and confidence on the puck, even more so than (before)," said coach Jeremy Colliton.

Dach has been centering the third line since the Hawks rebooted their season with training camp at Fifth Third Arena last Monday. His wingers are 30-goal scorer Kubalik and the tough, gritty Drake Caggiula.

"As you get older and more mature, you're going to feel stronger on the ice," said Dach, who had 8 goals and 15 assists in 64 games. "That was a big thing for me during this break was to get in the gym right away and maintain my strength and try to add some size, but at the same time not take away from my on-ice game."

It was an eventful rookie season for Dach, who suffered a concussion during a summer prospects tournament in Traverse City. The setback caused Dach to miss a significant portion of training camp, and he didn't make his season debut until the sixth game of the season against Washington on Oct. 20.

Over the next week and a half, there was plenty of speculation about whether Dach would be sent back to juniors or if he'd stay with the Hawks all season. Finally, on Oct. 30 after a practice in California, GM Stan Bowman told a thrilled Dach that he would be staying.

"When you watch him play in the Western League it felt like he wasn't going to learn the lessons you need to learn as a pro and an NHLer there," coach Jeremy Colliton said after Sunday's practice. "He was ready to be challenged."

Dach managed just a goal and an assist in his first 10 games, then put together a five-game points streak that included a goal against Toronto on Nov. 10, a goal against Vegas on Nov. 13, and 2 goals against Buffalo on Nov. 17.

Over the next 28 games, however, Dach managed just a single goal and saw less than 14 minutes of ice time in 11 of 15 contests between Nov. 21 and Dec. 19.

"It wasn't perfect early," Colliton said. "And I'm sure when you're used to playing a lot it's sometimes hard to play a little bit less.

"One thing you really enjoy about Kirby is you only have to tell him something once. If you give feedback to him, he'll kind of look at you and take it in. He doesn't say much and then you never have to deal with it again.

"He really blossomed as the year went on and became an important player for us."

That was especially true once Dach proved he could handle a bigger role about midway through the season. His ice time increased (16:06 over the final 27 games), he was putting more shots on net (1.85 per game compared to 1.38 in his first 37 games) and his overall confidence simply soared.

A great example came against Minnesota on Feb. 4 when Dach put an open-ice move on Jonas Brodin that completely flummoxed the veteran D-man. A flailing, falling Brodin watched helplessly as Dach motored directly to the net, where he ultimately failed to finish things off against goalie Alex Stalock.

Against Boston the next night, Dach stripped Chris Wagner of the puck in the neutral zone and raced the other way on a breakaway. He failed to convert, but it was an impressive one-man effort to set up the chance in the first place.

These are the types of plays that could catch the Oilers off guard and potentially lead to a stunning upset. But no matter what happens in two weeks, there's no doubt Dach's long-term future is awfully bright.

"He can be a top player in the league," said Patrick Kane, who has tried to talk with Dach about how to develop as a young player. "For me, I was a goal scorer. I came in to the league and a lot of the moves I was making weren't necessarily getting around defenders.

"So I had to pull up and find a guy (and) try to create space for teammates. So I became more of a pass-first guy. ...

"He's a guy that can be the same way. He's got the ability to ... use his reach to get by guys and beat guys 1-on-1. So he (can) ... put a guy on his back, pull someone to him and then create some space for someone else. He has all the potential in the world to do that.

"He can be as good as he wants, you know? Time will tell. He's had a great start for his career. It's not easy to come in at a young age and play.

"You can see the improvements throughout the season (and) from the last time we played until now. He's getting better and better, and he's going to be a good one."