The 2024 year was supposed to be different for the Montreal Canadiens. They believed their rebuild was starting to end, and they wondered whether 2024 would end with them looking ahead to a run at the playoffs in 2025. The year ended with a string of wins that elevated them to sixth place in the Atlantic Division, but they are still seven points behind in a playoff race. This series will examine how each player performed over the 2024 calendar year. Next up is underperforming forward Christian Dvorak.
It was a small victory for Dvorak in the second half of 2024, but he already eclipsed last season's numbers with 12 points in 36 games. Dvorak played just five games in 2024 last season before suffering a season-ending injury. It gave him just nine points in 30 games, recording his worst season since joining the Canadiens.
It hasn't been an easy NHL career for Dvorak after back-to-back 100-point seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. He never fully found his form as a contributor at the next level, and it has been the same old story after moving from the defunct Arizona Coyotes franchise to the Canadiens. Dvorak's 14 points in 41 games in 2024 is well-below what many expected, but is actually par for the course with the rest of his career's production.
Dvorak's previous career-high with the Canadiens was 33 points in 56 games in his first season. He is on pace to finish with five fewer points this season, and hasn't missed a game yet, which would put the pace at 28 points in 82 games.
The Year-in-Review series has been overall positive, but the reality for Dvorak is that this should be his last season in a Canadiens uniform. He seemingly has no trade value, so we will have to watch him dress for the rest of this season, but you can likely say that 2024 was the last full year of the Christian Dvorak experiment. Sometimes, acquisitions don't work out in your favor, and this has been one of those times for Montreal.