Philadelphia Flyers
Re-Evaluating the Christian Dvorak Signing
I will be one of the first people to tell you that I like Christian Dvorak as a player, and really love his game. However, I absolutely hated the signing. In a year where it looked like a few moves could put the Flyers in the playoffs, I was rather peeved seeing the team shell out $5.4 million for a fourth-line center, even if it was only a one-year deal.
I am still not too thrilled about the AAV, but something opened my eyes.
Yesterday, someone left a question under the mailbag post that made me rethink the Christian Dvorak signing, and I see it in a whole new light now.
The question asked: “Have you considered the Christian Dvorak signing was done to acquire another 1st round pick at the TDL?”
Of course, I could have waited and included this in the mailbag story. Personally, I thought this deserved a little more than 200 words. So, I decided to give it its own story.
Now, let’s re-evaluate the Dvorak signing.
Read More: Flyers Offseason Mailbag: Leave Your Questions Below
Re-Evaluating Christian Dvorak’s Contract
Pretty much the entire reason that I was unhappy with the contract was the salary. I really don’t like the idea of paying a 4C $5M+. The commenter made a good point when referencing that Dvorak was previously on a six-year, $4.45M AAV contract. His new deal is just a less than a million-dollar raise.
So, putting things into perspective, especially with the rising cap, that is not a tragic overpay.
Dvorak is a guy who, when he plays most of a season, flutters around 30 points a year. If the Flyers can find a way to get 30 points from their 4C, I’d call that a win.
However, with the minutes expected from that bottom line, unless Dvorak moves up the lineup, I don’t see him getting there.
I do believe he earns his pay from other skills, not particularly his scoring.
Dvorak is a lot like Noah Cates in that he is a complete 200-foot player. He can produce offence in one zone, he is solid in the neutral zone, and can lock down in the defensive zone. If Dvorak and Cates play together, they will be a legitimate defensive threat.
Not only is Dvorak a solid two-way forward, but he is also a great penalty kill guy and can win faceoffs. In fact, Dvorak has been dominant at the dot, which is something the Flyers very much could use help with.
Those are all traits contending teams covet at the deadline, which leads to the next point.
Read More: Predicting the Flyers’ 2025 Opening Night Roster
Could the Flyers Flip Dvorak?
There is no doubt in my mind that Plan A with Christian Dvorak is to keep him and try to win. However, let’s say that does not work out, and the Flyers are trending towards a high lottery pick once again. They become sellers at the trade deadline, and all of a sudden, Christian Dvorak could become a coveted asset.
As our commenter who sparked this thought pointed out, Dvorak is just a better version of Scott Laughton.
Now, I will say, in my opinion anyway, Laughton has been better than Dvorak in pretty much every area, other than the dot. Dvorak may have a slight edge in defensive ability, but Laughton was given a better opportunity to produce. Regardless, the Flyers landed a B-prospect and a first-round pick in return for Laughton in a trade.
The two players do a lot of similar things. Plus, with more opportunity, maybe Dvorak could produce career-high numbers. So, imagine what they could get for Dvorak if they moved him at the deadline.
If the salary does make it hard to trade him, the Flyers still do have one retention slot open, which could boost the return on Dvorak.
Now, I am not insinuating that the Flyers signed him just to trade him, but it certainly makes it easier to stomach the salary.
With this in mind, have your opinions changed on the Christian Dvorak signing?
Read More: What To Do With Porter Martone?
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It’s still a God-awful signing that’s going to slow the entry of the prospects that should be playing this year.
Barring a horrible camp, Luchanko, Martone and Bump should all be starting the season with the Flyers and going through the NHL learning curve that Michkov went through last year.
Those three are the guys (along with Zegras and Michkov) are (hopefully) the core of our future that need to be playing together and learning together. Or the team needs to learn who isn’t going be a fit for the future, and they need to find that out sooner rather than later.
The Dvorak signing complicates that since the Flyers won’t sit him at that salary. Instead of moving us forward, it’s actually setting us back.
Two major issues with your analysis:
1) “Barring a horrible camp, Luchanko, Martone and Bump should all be starting the season with the Flyers and going through the NHL learning curve” is a ridiculous statement. Last season, across 32 first round picks, precisely 2 made the NHL out of training camp – First overall pick & eventual Calder runner up Morgan Celebrini and…Jett Luchanko who lasted all of 4 NHL games, playing only 3rd or 4th line minutes, before being sent back to juniors to actually be given a chance to develop. Bump is a former 5th round pick who has played a grand total of 9 professional hockey games (none at the NHL level). The truth is that barring amazing training camps, none will or even should start the year in the NHL and should be put in the best spots for their future development instead.
2) “The Dvorak signing complicates that since the Flyers won’t sit him at that salary.” Again, ridiculous. Just very recently, the Flyers have healthy scratched guys with higher cap hits including Sanheim & Couturier (who was also the team CAPTAIN at the time). It was under Torts as HC at those particular benchings, but it was “the Flyers” in any event AND Rick Tocchet has a well documented coaching history of holding players, including seasoned veterans, accountable for their play by, amongst other things, healthy scratching them at times when he deems it warranted.
Agree with you on both points. The AHL is a much better place to learn than the NHL. How does a player develop playing 9 minutes a night with little practice time? I’ve seen too many young players get injured trying to play in a league they aren’t ready for. Celebrini was one of those. Carter and Richards developed in the AHL, where they played big minutes in all situations.
Tocchet benched plenty of Vancouver’s top players last season.
Agreed……even Porter Martone may fall victim to not making the team out of camp, though hope he realizes it, but a year at the college level may serve him better in development.
I kind of disagree with you. Martone might go NCAA. Luchanko isn’t a lock to make the opening night lineup, nor is Bump.
So, you’re thinking Flyers management has no clue about how ready those prospects are, and just decided to go out and spend over $5M without putting any thought into who’s ready for regular NHL duty. It’s sad to think they don’t scout prospects as thoroughly, nor have the ability to assess talent as well as you.
I think those are good points. The AAV is high, but the market is dictating that to some extent plus it’s only a one-year deal. The possibility of trading him at the deadline (although I’m not sure you’d get a first-rounder) provides flexibility and a chance to add an asset in exchange. In the meantime, he would be a solid fourth line center. That said, I like Allentown Mike’s opinion about Luchanko, Martone, and Bump being on the roster (if they show decent readiness). I would like to see the future a little closer to now.
At the trade deadline…CD will only be owed less than $2M on his remaining contract…..Flyers could eat up to 50% of that and possibly garner a first round pick…..if the Flyers are out of it by then….assuming Habs will be there again…they may want CD back for the last six weeks into the play-offs at a bargain price vs the cap. And the Habs are loaded with prospects and young players, so they may want to give up a first round pick.
I still would have much preferred for them to have signed Pius Suter. He had a relationship with Tocchet and he signed for 4 million and 4.25 million for two years with the Blues. He is an upgrade over Laughton and a two year contract would not have hampered the team.
I disagree that a two year contract wouldn’t have hampered the Flyers. Briere et al. are obviously looking down the line and trying to free up as much 2026-27 cap space as possible. As it stands, they will likely have enough free cap space to make a max allowable AAV offer to a player (McDavid would be the only one who would make sense) without having to make any other major cap cutting moves. Barring that, it would allow them to bring in two elite level talents in the $10 million AAV range simultaneously without any other major moves. Will the Flyers actually be able to/do that? Unknown but at least the door is WIDE open and that flexibility could be crucial to the team moving forward.
This is a loser attitude! To make a bad signing from a financial standpoint point, paying 5+ million AAV for a 4th line player is the exact reason this team is always in contentention for lottery draft picks! The expectation is figuring you are going to not be in playoff contentention but lottery contentention. The media always gives the flyers a pass! It’s unacceptable how this organization is run. A big part of the problem is Brent Flahr! Expansion teams are lapping this front office group we have! The only players that want to come to the flyers are hasbeens! They will not have top tier FA’s want to sign here! Losing mentality
Dvorak being signed to a 1 year deal with the possible intention of being flipped means to me that Risto won’t get dealt this season. The Flyers only have 1 retention slot to use this year. Even with the cap increase, Risto’s salary will be too much to take on for a contender. I like Risto but would have preferred we dealt him to Toronto last season in that rumored deal to get Minten and a first round pick.
I think they’re both getting dealt.
Lol, maybe a 3rd if you’re lucky. Nobodies giving up a 1st in next year’s draft. Career 30 point or less injury prone 4th line center isn’t worth it.
He played for the head coach before.
What makes you think a guy like Connor McDavid would sign here as a free agent!? The flyers are on his NO trade list! Hmm mm, so since that’s the case he’ll sign with the flyers! LMAO! Keep getting duped by the Comcast Flyers! Any hope of the flyers ever being relevant again is they better hope their draft picks turn into studs! I seriously doubt that!
The player’s agent should have a talk with him. McDavid doesn’t get the exposure he should. He is playing in the Mountain Time Zone. If he played in Boston/New York/Philadelphia many more fans could watch him. Maybe McDavid’s no-trade list was made before the recent Philadelphia coaching change – that is understandable. Certainly the terms would have to be right, but if he brought a Cup to one of those cities, he would be inducted into the HoF while still playing.
The reality is the flyers are 3 to 5 years away from being 3 to 5 years away. They have absolutely no goalie! The D is average at best! The team is overall in rebuild. I’d say they’re behind new expansion teams! Connor McDavid wants to win now, not in 3 to 5 years! There is zero chance he comes to the flyers!
10 years now with world class players like him and Leon D. and decent other forwards and dmen, and no cup for the Oilers……he may be the Mike Trout of hockey when all is said and done.
Well, obviously, the most likely landing spot for McDavid, BY FAR , is to stay with the Oilers. If not, though, the Flyers would very likely at least be on his very short list of teams to consider if they could offer max AAV in a large US market with plenty of external endorsement possibilities and amongst the very best NHL travel situations. The Flyers were one of 3 teams Gretzky initially told the Oilers he’d accept a trade to, for instance (Red Wings and Kings being the others). The comment that the Flyers are on McDavid’s no trade list is technically true but hugely misleading: He has a full no movement clause – so EVERY NHL team but the Oilers is on it (and effectively every AHL/ECHL team as well!). That’s all besides the real point, though: The cap flexibility the Flyers will have. Say what you want, and there are ways they could have done more, but the Flyers have spent to the cap or darn close to it in all years since it was instituted. So, it’s virtually certain that the Flyers will use that 2026-27 cap space for something other than short term financial/payroll savings.
The money alone will not lure CM to Philly. They do not have anything else to offer. Travel accommodations and exposure is meaningless when compared to winning! The Gretzky comment is misleading. #1 the flyers were owned by one the best owners in the sport at the time, unlike now where they’re owned by a conglomerate. #2 the flyers were perennial cup contenders during that era. The flyers are closer to the 1967 club as compared to the 80’s teams when Gretzky played! Spending to the cap limit is irrelevant, they’ve spent money foolishly. Bloated long term deals and making trades by retaining massive amounts of salary! The worse part of the Ryan Ellis deal, they signed him long term after he arrived on the team. I think it’s no secret their medical staff/evaluators are horrendous!
Correction… they traded for Ellis and took on that massive deal without doing a complete medical evaluation in my opinion! Chuck Fletcher set this franchise back immensely!
Thanks for the article and the rethink. I honestly don’t think paying $1 million more than a player was making on a long term deal, to get him for 1 year is that much of an overpayment. Especially in today’s new increasing CAP world. EVERYONE is getting overpaid now, because of it.
I think Dvorak gets better than 4th line minutes, simply because of his ability to win faceoffs. I could see him getting sent out for D-zone faceoffs on any of 3 lines, with Couturier being the only center that is better at the dot. Do you want Cates or Zegras facing off in the d-zone very often? I know I don’t. He’ll be on the PK, which will further up his minutes, and could be used for PP faceoffs, since puck possession was a big issue that hindered last years PP. I’m not saying he gets top PP minutes, but I could see the Flyers using him to get possession of the puck on PP faceoffs, then getting off. It was one of the issues I had with Tortorella not playing Couturier on the PP.
If things go well, I could also see the Flyers signing Dvorak to a more team friendly long term deal. The one year signing gives the Flyers options.
I don’t disagree he was overpaid. I just don’t think it was that much of an overpay given the escalating salary cap, after years of stagnation due to COVID.
Looking through his detailed analytics, he NEVER has been a 4th line Center at anytime
In his career. Why would he sign with us when he had other offers? Toch – yes! Danny – yes! To be a 4th line Center – Nope!