When the Flyers announced their second free agency signing, many were not impressed with it being former Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak. He was too old, had never been a high scorer, and was getting paid over $5 million for a guy who would be, at best, a third-line center. For a team that was entering a youth movement, there was concern that he could stunt the development of a young guy like Jett Luchenko.
October and November came, and Dvorak was playing well. He formed a bond with Trevor Zegras, and the two became one of the team's best scoring combinations. At the start of the new year, Dvorak was given a new contract that would keep him in Philly for five more years at slightly less than what he was making now ($5.4 millon vs $5.15 million). Again, some detractors complained that it was too long and would affect the center pipeline. Others saw him as part of the pre-Olympic swoon the Flyers had and felt that this showed that the contract was a bad idea.
Dvorak has proved the naysayers wrong this season
This season has been a career year for Dvorak. His 51 points are tied for third on the Flyers with Owen Tippett and only behind Zegras and Travis Konecny. It also smashed his previous career high of 38 set back in 2019-20. His 18 goals tied his career high from the 2019-20 season and currently tie him for fourth place on the Flyers with Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates. His 33 assists are third on the team and are also a career high.
Dvorak's 54.3% win percentage in the faceoff circle places him in the top 20 in the NHL. Those faceoff wins have helped the Flyers on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ice time and time again. And despite averaging over 18 minutes of ice time, he has only spent 25 total minutes in the sin bin, as well as turning the puck over less (62 times) than the other top six forwards have all year. He has been a fixture on the penalty kill unit and has added three goals on the power play.
Yes, Dvorak turned 30 in February. Yes the contract could be a problem in a few years. However, Dvorak is a steady presence on the penalty kill. Instead of being relegated to a third-line role, he's appeared mostly as a top-two-line center, as well as spending time on the left wing when Zegras was playing center.
Sometimes it is easy to look at stat lines when evaluating a player, especially when that player is a free agent. Dvorak may not have been the big splashy name that everyone had been expecting or hoping for. Instead, he has been better than advertised. Perhaps it is the system that Rick Tocchet has that has allowed Dvorak to thrive. Perhaps it is the connection with his linemates, such as Zegras, Konecny, Michkov, and Tippett. It's interesting that just like Dvorak, Zegras also had a career year with Tippett and Konecny close to matching theirs.
Sometimes the things that make a player great don't show up on the stat sheet. It could be the little things: setting up a play, anticipating where your linemate is going to be, battling it out in the corner, not taking a stupid penalty at an inopportune time, delivering a check at just the right time, etc. Dvorak has done that all season. It's why the Flyers rewarded him with a five-year extension. It's why they want him to be a fixture around these parts for the next few seasons. He isn't hurting the development of Luchanko. He's going to enhance it because he can teach him everything he's learned over a 12+ year career in the NHL.
If the Flyers do sneak into the playoffs, Dvorak will be a key piece as to why that happened. Maybe then, some of the detractors will start to keep quiet.