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Friedman: Oilers poked around on Kirby Dach, Shane Wright, ‘looking for a right-shot centre’

Edmonton Oilers Seattle Kraken Shane Wright

Photo credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

By Michael Menzies

Sep 28, 2026, 16:00 EDT

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There is something to the rumours linking the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach.

Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts on Monday spoke on this speculation, with the Oilers deep on left-shot centres, but not on righties.

“I think Edmonton is looking for a right-shot centre,” said Friedman. “I think they’ve been combing what’s available, and Mike Babcock, he is so minute in his coaching of hockey that — he would look at this and say, we need this. That’s why the Dach rumors have been there.”
“Also, Stan Bowman has a history with Dach, but I also think he’s a right-shot guy who can play centre. I think a few teams have kind of looked at Dach. I wondered about Shane Wright for Edmonton, and I think they poked around, but I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”

The Oilers kept Owen Michaels on their roster on Monday, sending down Josh Samanski, and part of the thinking could be that Michaels is a right-shot. In the meantime, Babcock has been playing Kirby’s younger brother Colton at centre, despite playing most of his young career on the wing.

Frank Seravalli has reported that multiple teams offered the Canadiens a second-round pick for Dach’s services, but the Canadiens appear to be holding out for a better package. During the 2022 off-season, the Canadiens traded a first- and third-round pick to acquire Dach from the Blackhawks.

Dach the elder has fought injuries and inconsistency throughout his career, but is still tantalizing after being a third overall pick in 2019. He played just 37 games last season, scoring eight goals and 15 points. However, he did play in all 19 playoff games for the Habs, scoring four goals and another assist.

In total, K. Dach has suited up for 154 games in the last four seasons. His career high is 70 games back in 2021-22.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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