The Montreal Canadiens 2021-22 season was not one many fans want to recall any time soon. The losses piled up about as quickly as the injuries, and the team sank to the bottom of the league standings.
However, there were a few reasons for optimism later in the season. Many fans were thrilled to see Cole Caufield take off late in the year, and it was at exactly the same time Martin St. Louis arrived to coach the team.
Nick Suzuki, as well as Rem Pitlick, also had strong finishes to the season, and veteran defender Jeff Petry finally regained his form for the final third of the year. After a disastrous start, Petry had 21 points in his final 28 games, allowing the Habs to net Mike Matheson in a trade this offseason.
These hopeful signs have many fans believing Suzuki and Caufield are due for a huge breakout this season. But there was one player who outperformed all others late in the season, and he isn’t getting nearly as much credit heading into a fresh 2022-23 season.
Christian Dvorak kind of flew under the radar last season after arriving from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for first and second round draft picks. He finished his first season in Montreal with 33 points in 56 games, which hardly seems like an improvement from the previous year when he scored 31 points in 56 games for the Coyotes.
However, it was Dvorak, and not Caufield or Suzuki, who led the team in scoring for the final quarter of the season.
The 26 year old centre was injured in late January and did not return to action until March 17th. St. Louis took over the team while Dvorak was out, and the American centre played the best hockey of his career under the Habs new coach.
Dvorak was held scoreless in his first three games upon returning from injury, but took off after that. He would finish the year by scoring 17 points in the team’s last 20 games. That put him ahead of Suzuki by two points over the final fourth of the season for the team lead.
Dvorak’s career highs are 18 goals and 38 points and were achieved in 2019-20 season. He nearly got halfway there in just 20 games with St. Louis as his coach, and definitely has some untapped offensive potential. He scored over two points per game in his final Junior season, and finished with 230 points in 125 games over his last two seasons with the London Knights.
The Canadiens gave up a lot to get Dvorak, thinking he could be a second line centre. He didn’t immediately produce with the Habs, but finished the season stronger than anyone.
With St. Louis working with him to help unlock some of that offensive touch, Dvorak is in for a much improved season in 2022-23.
Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!