Canadiens: Potential Christian Dvorak Trades Ahead of NHL Draft

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The Montreal Canadiens are going to do plenty of moving and shaking in the next few days. They hold plenty of draft capital, including that coveted first overall pick, and are said to be heavily working the phones on the trade front as well.

While they are sure to add plenty of prospects with the 14 picks they own, they could also trade a few between now and the end of the draft on Friday afternoon.

They could also be moving on from a couple of veteran players between now and the end of the week as well. Jeff Petry has had his name in the rumour mill since November, Josh Anderson is said to be garnering plenty of interest as well.

Another player who could be on the way out is Christian Dvorak. The Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has to look at all options to make this team competitive in the long run. Dvorak has three years left on a reasonable contract, but how good are the Habs going to be in those three seasons?

Does it make more sense to move Dvorak now? It sure does if a great offer comes along. The Canadiens acquired Dvorak last offseason for a 2022 first round pick that was initially owned by the Carolina Hurricanes and the Habs second round pick in 2024.

Dvorak was coming off a season where he scored 31 points in 56 games when the Habs gave up a first and a second for him. A year later, he is coming off a season where he scored 33 points in 56 games. So, what is his value? It can’t have changed much, if at all.

Dvorak is a serviceable second line centre that still has the potential to score more if he stays healthy and finds the right linemates. He’s never going to be a point per game played, but he has scored like a 48 point player over a full season for the last two years.

He is just 26 years old so there is lots of good hockey left in him. It isn’t wild to think he could get 55-60 if put in the right situation. What will that cost another team? Let’s take a look at some possible returns the Canadiens could get if they trade Dvorak this week.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 13: Hendrix Lapierre (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are still in Stanley Cup mode. They have Alex Ovechkin under contract for four more seasons and aren’t going to be content to just have him chase down the all-time goals record. They are going to want to be contenders in those four years as well.

They already have tremendous depth down the middle with Evgeni Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller. However, there are questions around Backstrom’s availability next season due to his injured hip. The latest updates have been more optimistic, but the team can’t be certain he is going to play.

So, will they look for a Plan B? If so, they could do a lot worse than Dvorak. Playing on a second line in Washington with wingers like TJ Oshie and Anthony Mantha is exactly the scenario that could see Dvorak pop for 60 or so points.

What would it cost the Capitals? They do have the 20th overall pick in the first round of the NHL Draft and haven’t been shy to trade first round picks in the Ovechkin era. That isn’t to say they are quick to part with their picks but they traded a first round pick last year as well as in 2017 and will do it again if the right fit comes along.

If they feel Backstrom isn’t going to play or is a huge question mark, they could pull the trigger on a Dvorak deal. The Canadiens could even take a little salary back to ease the salary cap pain in the short term.

MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 11: Pierre-Luc Dubois. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets are an interesting team to watch this offseason. Some reports have them looking to offload veteran contracts like Blake Wheeler and possibly even Mark Scheifele. Others have them looking to change coaches and go all-in on next season expecting a full bounce back from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

They also got a bit of a bombshell of news when centre Pierre-Luc Dubois told them he was going to test free agency in 2024. That gives the Jets just two more seasons with him and he is currently a restricted free agent in need of a new contract.

There is rampant speculation that Dubois wants to play for his hometown team in Montreal and that will become a reality in July of 2024. But, could it happen much sooner?

What if the Jets don’t want a lame duck centre sitting on their roster for two years? Could they try to get something for him now instead of losing him in 2024? On the flip side of that coin, would the Canadiens make a great offer knowing that he wants to sign in Montreal as a free agent in 24 months?

The Jets aren’t going to want to lose Dubois for nothing, but the Canadiens aren’t going to want to give up a huge offer to land him, knowing they could just wait and get him in two years. This is a bad spot for the Jets to be in, especially considering they gave up Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic for Dubois less than two years ago.

Could the Canadiens swoop in now and get Dubois at a vastly reduced price? It would be better than noting for the Jets.

Mar 29, 2022; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Montreal Canadiens Christian Dvorak. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports /

Boston Bruins

A team that desperately needs a centre is the Boston Bruins. They lost David Krejci a year ago when he returned to Czechia to play in his hime country. But, they have not replaced him and had Erik Haula playing second line centre last season.

Haula is a good player, don’t get me wrong, but he isn’t an ideal top six centre on a Stanley Cup contender. Adding a second line centre and pushing Haula down to the third line would make the Bruins a formidable team heading into next season. That is, if the rumours of Patrice Bergeron returning are in fact true.

If Bergeron only plays one more season, the Bruins really need some help down the middle in the future. Sliding Dvorak in as the team’s second centre makes a lot of sense. The problem is there is limited cap space and they would probably want to move Derek Forbort and his $3 million cap hit for the next two seasons.

The Canadiens may not want to take that contract with two years left, but could possibly take on the final year of Nick Foligno’s wild $3.8 million cap hit for next season to balance the books.

The Bruins have already traded their 1st round pick in this draft for Hampus Lindholm. They don’t have a ton of great prospects either, and are fully in go-for-it mode and have been for years. They would have to look down the road to make this deal work.

A future 1st round pick with trade protection that pushes it another year down the road if the Bruins are really bad next season would be of interest to the Canadiens.

PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 13: Evgeni Malkin (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are another team that could lose a big piece down the middle. Evgeni Malkin has played his whole career with the Pens since being entering the NHL in 2006-07, but he is about to hit the free agent market.

Dvorak certainly wouldn’t be a replica of Malkin, but he would come at the half the cap hit and allow the team to comfortably retain Kris Letang on the blue line and add another key piece via free agency at about $4.5 million.

The Penguins have been in go-for-it mode since Malkin broke into the league, and have had no problem trading first round picks. The fact they still have their 2022 first rounder is actually kind of shocking. After taking Kasperi Kapanen in the first round in 2014, they have only made one first round selection.

With Sidney Crosby set to turn 35 this summer, there is no reason to start adding prospects now. Trading the 21st overall pick for immediate help seems inevitable for the Pens and Dvorak would fill a void and allow the team to add some other pieces around him.

Jun 22, 2018; Dallas, TX, USA; Nils Lundkvist Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are yet another Metropolitan Division team that could be in need of a middle six centre this offseason. They are possibly going to lose Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp to free agency and are going to need to fill the gap between Mika Zibanejad and Filip Chytil.

Christian Dvorak could definitely help out in that role. As a trendy free agent destination, it is possible the Rangers wait it out and see who wants to sign there, but their former general manager Jeff Gorton may come calling with an offer that fills that need long before free agency overspending season begins.

The Rangers are very much in win-now as they have a Vezina caliber goaltender, a Norris caliber Adam Fox on defence and some elite forwards in Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad as well as youngsters looking ready to explode like Alexis Lafreniere, Chytil and Kaapo Kakko.

They would surely be interested in parting with a young piece to fill the void at second line centre and no one knows their prospects better than Gorton, who drafted most of them.

If the Habs have one specific need on the roster it is on right defence. The Rangers are plenty deep on the right side with Fox, Jacob Trouba and Braden Schneider but still have more interesting prospects at that position. A perfect match may have been found.

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