The latest Edmonton Oilers trade rumors have produced an intriguing mystery, and there is a legitimate reason to wonder whether Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach is the player sitting at the centre of it.
Darren Dreger was quoted on The Nielson Show describing an unnamed young Eastern Conference forward who can potentially play center, still has considerable upside and has something left to prove at the NHL level. More importantly, Edmonton has reportedly been involved in conversations about that player for several weeks and was viewed as a front-runner in the trade discussions. Dreger did not identify the player.
That last point matters: there is currently no confirmation that the player is Kirby Dach.
But when you combine Dreger’s description with what Elliotte Friedman and Frank Seravalli have already reported about Edmonton’s pursuit of Dach, the connection becomes difficult to dismiss.
Dach is 25. He plays center, shoots right, stands 6-foot-4 and has yet to fully realize the upside that made him the third-overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft. He is also playing on a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
That doesn’t prove Dach is Edmonton’s mystery target.
It does make him one of the most fascinating possibilities.
Why Kirby Dach Fits the Edmonton Oilers’ Mystery Trade Target
The biggest reason this rumor deserves attention is that Edmonton’s interest in Dach isn’t something that suddenly appeared because of Dreger’s comments.
Frank Seravalli reported in late September that the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames had been monitoring Dach’s situation with the Montreal Canadiens. Seravalli went considerably further when discussing Edmonton, writing that the Oilers’ interest effectively “borders on drooling” and that the organization wants to acquire Dach at some point.
Elliotte Friedman subsequently explained another part of the attraction: Edmonton has been looking for a right-shot center.
Friedman specifically connected that search with Dach and also pointed toward the relationship between Oilers general manager Stan Bowman and the player. Bowman was running the Chicago Blackhawks when Chicago selected Dach third overall in 2019.
Now layer Dreger’s newest information over those reports.
Young? Yes.
Center? Yes.
Eastern Conference? Montreal qualifies.
Significant upside? Dach was a No. 3 overall selection.
Something left to prove? Absolutely.
A player Edmonton has already been pursuing? Seravalli and Friedman have both linked them.
There is still a substantial difference between fitting the clues and being confirmed as the player, and that distinction shouldn’t be lost in the excitement surrounding the rumor.
Kirby Dach By the Numbers
Dach signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract with Montreal in July. He recorded eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 37 regular-season games in 2025-26, then added four goals and one assist in 19 playoff games. Montreal’s official announcement lists him at 6-foot-4, 221 pounds and confirms that he shoots right.
Kirby Dach — 2025-26 Snapshot
The production doesn’t scream top-six difference-maker, and that’s where I think Edmonton’s interest gets more interesting rather than less.
The Oilers wouldn’t be buying what Dach already is. They would be betting on what he could still become.
That’s exactly the type of distressed-asset gamble a contender can sometimes exploit. Dach’s combination of size, hands and positional flexibility is difficult to find. Put him into an Edmonton lineup where Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl command virtually every opponent’s toughest matchup, and he would not face the same offensive burden he has carried at different points in Montreal.
My concern is availability.
NHL.com noted when Dach signed his new contract that injuries had limited him to 96 games over his previous three seasons with Montreal. That has to be built into Edmonton’s valuation.
In other words, Edmonton shouldn’t pay for the former No. 3 pick.
It should pay for the player Dach is today while giving itself the chance to benefit if the former No. 3 pick finally emerges.
NHLTradeRumor.com Salary Cap Calculator: Can Edmonton Fit Kirby Dach?
The financial side is potentially the biggest obstacle.
We currently list the Oilers with approximately $303,334 in current cap space, a $104 million league limit and an LTIR pool of roughly $1.43 million. Dach carries a $3.6 million cap hit.
Using Edmonton’s current-cap-space figure as the baseline, the Oilers would need roughly $2.84 million of additional outgoing salary/cap relief to simply absorb Dach’s full $3.6 million hit without another adjustment.
Oilers–Kirby Dach Cap Calculator
This is why I would expect a Dach trade to involve a contract moving out of Edmonton rather than simply a draft pick going to Montreal.
And Montreal may actually prefer that structure.
Seravalli reported that multiple clubs were believed to have offered second-round selections for Dach in June, but the Canadiens wanted immediate roster help rather than simply another draft asset.
That creates the foundation for a real hockey trade.
What Would It Cost the Edmonton Oilers to Acquire Kirby Dach?
My trade-value assessment is that Dach sits in one of the NHL’s more difficult valuation ranges.
There is clearly enough demand to establish a market. But his injury history, expiring contract and uneven production prevent Montreal from reasonably pricing him like an established young top-six center.
NHLTradeRumor.com Trade Value Index
That 57/100 rating is NHLTradeRumor.com’s own analytical model, not an insider-reported trade value. The reported second-round-pick interest gives us a useful real-world reference point, but Montreal’s preference for immediate NHL help changes the equation.
Edmonton’s draft-pick situation also matters. PuckPedia currently shows the Oilers without their own 2027 first-round or third-round selection, further increasing the likelihood that a potential deal would need a roster-player component or future-year asset.
Why I Think Edmonton’s Interest Is Real
There are trade rumors that exist because two teams theoretically fit together.
This one feels different.
We have Seravalli directly reporting Edmonton’s significant interest in Dach. We have Friedman explaining why a right-shot center is something Edmonton has been searching for. Now we have Dreger discussing a young Eastern Conference center with upside who Edmonton has reportedly discussed for weeks.
Those reports don’t prove they’re all describing the same transaction.
But they do create a pattern.
One especially interesting detail is that Friedman also discussed Seattle’s Shane Wright when examining Edmonton’s right-shot-center search. Wright fits the age and upside portions of the conversation, but Seattle is a Western Conference team. If Dreger’s Eastern Conference clue is exact, Wright doesn’t match this particular mystery.
Dach does.
My read is that Edmonton isn’t necessarily looking for someone to immediately become its second-line center. The Oilers already possess elite offensive drivers. What they need is another player who creates lineup flexibility, gives the coaching staff a right-handed faceoff option, can play inside the top nine and has enough skill that there is still meaningful upside if everything clicks.
Dach checks those boxes.
The question is whether the Canadiens believe they can extract more value by keeping him and allowing him to rebuild his stock.
Montreal doesn’t have to rush. We currently list the Canadiens at roughly $1.89 million in current cap space, and Dach’s $3.6 million contract expires after this season.
If Dach starts producing, his trade value rises.
If Edmonton believes a change of scenery could unlock him before that happens, the Oilers have incentive to move first.
That’s what makes this one worth watching.
For now, Kirby Dach being Dreger’s unnamed player remains informed speculation rather than confirmed reporting. NHLTradeRumor.com has not independently confirmed Dach as the mystery target and does not have an original agent, scout or team-source quote identifying him as that player.
But with three separate pieces of reporting pointing toward Edmonton pursuing exactly this type of player — and two directly connecting the Oilers to Dach, this is no longer a random trade-machine idea.
It may be one of the most interesting Oilers trade stories developing early in the season.
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