Christian Dvorak was traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
The trade comes after the Canadiens decided not to match the Carolina Hurricanes’ offer sheet on restricted free agent forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, for which they received a first- and third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Arizona will receive the higher of Montreal’s two first-round picks in the 2022 draft, and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. However, if either or both of the first-round picks is in the top 10 of the draft, then the Coyotes will receive the lower of the selections.
“When I first got here (September 2020), the previous regime had kind of depleted our assets, and with some of the fines the NHL had levied on us I was trying to find ways within the NHL to create draft picks,” Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said. “We were able to do that this summer. We were able to find some ways to create some picks and gather some picks and strengthen us as an organization. This just really solidifies that. Now it gives us three first-rounders and five seconds in one of the strongest drafts in the last 10 years.”
Dvorak, a 25-year-old forward, has four seasons remaining on a six-year contract he signed with Arizona on Aug. 9, 2018. He scored 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) in 56 games last season.
Selected by the Coyotes in the second round (No. 58) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Dvorak has scored 146 points (67 goals, 79 assists) in 302 regular-season games and three points (two goals, one assist) in nine postseason games.
“I think with Christian, when I came into the organization, it was interesting because we had talked to other teams about just about everyone on the roster and what the value was for the player,” Armstrong said.
“After the season ended, we explored, and that was my job to go and see what the value again was. I felt Christian had a lot of value, not only for our club but also on the open market because centers, this year, seem to be hard to find, so we tried to maximize that. We had to look at obviously improving our team down the road, and this move did that.”
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