The Philadelphia Flyers are in the midst of a solid season. The team has missed the playoffs each of the last five campaigns, but are currently holding the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Now, they are rewarding one of the pieces for the success this year, giving Christian Dvorak a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension. This was a solid deal for Dvorak, but it could be questionable for the Flyers.
Dvorak was the 58th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He broke into the NHL in the 2016-17 campaign for the Coyotes, playing in 78 games. He was expected to be a star forward for the Coyotes after scoring 121 points for the London Knights of the OHL in 2015-16. That was second on the team behind Mitch Marner.
He never broke out as a major player for the Coyotes. His best season was in 2019-20, when he played in 70 games. He found the back of the net 18 times and added 20 assists. This would result in the American forward being traded to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2021-2022 season. He spent four years with the franchise, but never eclipsed his 38-point campaign. He also played in 82 games just once, his final season in Montreal.
As a free agent this past summer, Dvorak signed with the Flyers. It was a low-risk deal for Philly. They added depth to the team on a one-year contract, paying $5.4 million. For Dvorak, it was a chance to show he deserved a long-term deal, and he has done just that.
Christian Dvorak contract grade
The Flyers needed a solid two-way player who could also kill penalties and play the center position. This led to the Flyers immediately targeting Dvorak, signing him quickly when free agency opened. He also got a nice pay raise when he signed his contract. Dvorak went from a salary of $4.45 million to $5.4 million in the one-year deal. He took a small pay cut this time. The new deal has an AAV of just $5.15 million. Also, accounting for just five percent of the salary cap in the first year on the new deal is the lowest amount since his entry-level contract.
Regardless, he is getting security, something that he has not had overall in his career. When he signed his extension with the Arizona Coyotes, the modified no-trade clause did not kick in until the last two seasons. By then, he had already been moved to Montreal. The modified no-trade clause also was for just eight teams, meaning the Canadiens could have easily still moved him. The new deal gives him two full seasons of no-trade protection and two years of modified protection.
Most importantly, Philadelphia has been a great fit for Dvorak. He has played in 39 of the team's 40 games, lighting the lamp nine times and dishing out 16 assists. That places him on pace for 18 goals and 33 assists. Both of those marks would be career highs for the forward. He also has a plus-eight plus/minus rating, which is already the best mark of his career if he holds on to it. Dvorak got rewarded for his career season, with the only knock being the slight decrease in pay.
Christian Dvorak contract grade: B+
Philadelphia Flyers contract grade
The Flyers' contract for Dvorak this past offseason was panned by some media outlets, such as Scott Maxwell of Daily Faceoff.
“Dvorak is the lone deal featured today that comes in at one year, and that’s largely due to how much Dvorak’s game has fallen off at this point in his career. His production has always lacked, and his defensive game continues to be horrid. He didn’t even rank in the top 500 among forwards in my model, a significant reason for such a poor contract rating,” Maxwell noted in criticizing the deal.
Dvorak has been a much better player this year, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ice. There was also another assertion Maxwell made about the deal.
“Ultimately, it won’t matter too much for the Flyers. They have the cap space this season to throw money at anything, they don’t plan on contending this season, and the deal will be done at the end of the year.”
The Flyers are in contention, though, and the deal is no longer done at the end of the season. They did get some value in the contact. At $5.150 million in AAV, it will account for just five percent of the salary cap in 2026-27. That is a drop from the 5.7 percent of the cap given to Dvorak this season. As the salary cap grows, the percentage drops, and is projected to be under four percent for the final two years of the deal.
Still, there is some major risk with the deal. Dvorak is having a career year, and there is nothing in his past performances that says he will be able to replicate that in future seasons. This is the first time he has been able to replicate the success of his 2019-20 campaign, while he has also dealt with injuries and missed games. Meanwhile, the contract has no-trade concessions.
The forward will have a no-trade clause for the first two seasons of the deal. The becomes a modified no-trade clause in the second two seasons. There is no trade protection in the final year. This means if his production drops, the Flyers could be stuck with the contract. That puts a small damper on what may turn out to be a quality deal for the team.
Philadelphia Flyers contract grade: B-
