Dach’s plays with a long stick and showcases supreme control despite holding both hands high up the shaft. This control, paired with his reach and size, allows him to create a lot of time and space along the wall for himself and teammates. Dach is tremendous at touch passes, quick passing to exit the zone, and manipulating passing lanes both in stride and at a standstill. He uses his reach and control of the puck from in front to his hip to open passing lanes both on the forehand and backhand. His head is up so he finds teammates so well, and regains possession down low; moving the puck to an open linemate very quickly. Dach’s development curve is very promising. As he gains confidence and becomes more relied on in the offensive zone, he can learn to adapt and maximize his skillset. His added versatility and improved play without the puck are prime examples of the steps he’s taken. While he makes mistakes, he works hard to correct those mistakes with a high level of effort. He tracks back hard, attacks the puck carrier, and shows a real knack for getting his stick in the fray to pluck away possession. He has also become much more willing to use his size for an advantage especially at the net-front. On the power play, he is a nightmare for the goalie to deal with around the crease as he has a great sense of timing on screens and is also effective at pushing off the defender to create space on rebound chances. However, at this point he doesn’t show a ton of dynamism or creativity. His protection skills, hand eye coordination, and ability to maintain possession are positive attributes however he’ll need to attack through gaps more consistently. He appears to lack that extra bit of awareness to project as a true top line forward at the NHL level. Moving forward, improvements are needed is in his skating stride. He has already progressed in this regard as his straight-line speed and leg extension through his stride have come a long way, however, he still takes extremely wide turns when changing directions and his footwork in transitions is quite clunky. His mechanics and weight load are generally sound so with some refinement his skating abilities will be serviceable.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide