Christian Dvorak has Trade Value

When the Canadiens traded for Christian Dvorak, I thought it was a bad idea because of their talk of plugging him into the second-line center role. Dvorak can play the pivot but he’s a 3C. I argued that on social media and shows and it took a while for the team to realize that.

One thing he’s doing well with is face-offs. His last five games have shown that ranging from the 50s to 70s except for one game where he got schooled for 30%. The average of it all is very good and that’s what teams look at. Everyone has a bad night.

He currently has 52 blocks and 28 hits, both are decent numbers and he will likely mark career-highs in both. That’s trending up and there are a lot of reasons a contender would want him for depth or to replace an injured player to stay in the race. The latter is usually a bit more desperate. If his salary was lower, he would be on all the lists but you can’t turn back time.

A big key to him getting dealt is retaining some salary. He’s a UFA after this season, so he’s a pure rental. If Montreal can get his salary down to 2.5 million, then they could get a third or fourth-round pick. That’s something worth doing in my estimation. Let’s see how he plays the next few games and then maybe we can see what he might be able to fetch in the trade market.