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In Hainsight: What to Expect from Christian Dvorak |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
In early July, Habs beat reported Arpon Basu said that Christian Dvorak wouldn’t be ready to return at the start of the season and that he could miss a few weeks after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Chances are the veteran therefore won’t be in the line-up on opening night, but when he is ready to return, there will be room for him in the line-up.
Dvorak landed in Montreal after former GM Marc Bergevin picked him up in a panic move to shore up his center line after losing both Philip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the summer of 2021. Far from being an offensive juggernaut, Dvorak’s best offensive season came in 2019-2020 when he racked up 38 points, since joining the Canadiens, he’s posted 33 points in 56 games in 2021-2022 and 28 points in 64 games last year. Like much of the team, the American has struggled to stay healthy.
This year, once everyone is cleared to play, there will be no shortage of pivots in the Canadiens line-up: Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Sean Monahan, Alex Newhook, Jake Evans and Dvorak can all play in the middle. With a $4 450 000 cap hit and a modest offensive production, chances are that Kent Hughes will be trying his best to trade him, but it could be tricky.
Dvorak has another year left on his contract after this upcoming campaign and he does have a modified no trade clause which allows him to submit a list of eight teams he doesn’t want to be traded to. Furthermore, the center has had his share of injury trouble over the last few years and has got a bit of a buyers beware tag on him.
Health permitting, he should find himself anchoring the Canadiens’ 3rd line once again and Brendan Gallagher is likely to be on his right wing. The identity of his other winger could vary though depending on who earns top-six ice time. It’s possible that Alex Newhook will get some ice-time on the third line to familiarize himself with the Canadiens’ system, Juraj Slafkovsky might also spend some time there if St-Louis judges he’s not ready for the top-six yet.
In an ideal world, Dvorak would stay healthy this year and could potentially have his best season offense wise since he did get within 5 points of his career mark when he only played 56 games in 2021-2022. If he does that, he’ll likely buy his ticket out of time by the trade deadline since he’s unlikely to have a spot with the Canadiens for long if things work out according to plan for the likes of Suzuki, Dach and Newhook and Jake Evans is retained for the fourth line.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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