Flyers make out like gangbusters with Dvorak extension

The Philadelphia Flyers' extension of center Christian Dvorak has to be one of the best deals in the NHL this season.

The club announced on Monday that it had signed Dvorak to a five-year deal with an AAV of $5.15 million. Regardless of whether Dvorak is a top-liner center or a middle-six forward, that’s a fantastic deal.

The going rate for a serviceable NHL center is at least in the $5 million range. Top-six centers hover around $7 or $8 million per season, with true number-one centers crossing into eight figures per season.

That reality makes the Flyers look like gangbusters with Dvorak’s extension. The Flyers ensure much-needed cost certainty while keeping their most reliable center for the foreseeable future.  If Dvorak truly emerges as the club’s top-line center, the deal will look like absolute larceny.

If Dvorak turns out to be a solid 2C or 3C, the deal will still age very well. Unless the 29-year-old’s production and play fall off a cliff, there’s very little downside to this deal.

But there’s another key element that makes this contract extension look like a masterful stroke.

Flyers have plenty of dry powder moving forward

The Flyers signed Dvorak below his current cap hit. Essentially, Dvorak traded money for years on his deal. The pay cut, while only about $250K, gives the Flyers plenty of flexibility moving forward.

Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink, and Samuel Ersson will be RFAs at the end of the season. Meanwhile, the club could use upgrades on the blue line and down the middle. That scenario means that the $13 million in cap space this season, plus about another $8 million next year, could easily go a long way towards keeping the aforementioned RFAs and getting the upgrades needed.

That’s why Dvorak’s contract is another major coup for Daniel Briere and the Flyers. Dvorak bought the club enough time and cap space to truly become a competitive force. While this summer’s free-agent market won’t be nearly as impressive as it could have been, the Flyers will have enough dry powder to land solid pieces moving forward.

Plus, the Flyers have assets they can move to make a big splash on the trade market. As such, the time to really go for it is fast approaching. If the Flyers play their cards right, the club could shift the balance of power in the Metro Division.

Much of that opportunity is thanks to Christian Dvorak playing his cards right. He took a longer-term contract in lieu of a larger payday. It’s the sort of win-win proposition that’s becoming increasingly popular in today’s cap-tight NHL.