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Christian Dvorak

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Christian Dvorak
Dvorak with the London Knights in 2016
Born (1996-02-02) February 2, 1996 (age 28)
Palos, Illinois, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Center
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Montreal Canadiens
Arizona Coyotes
National team  United States
NHL draft 58th overall, 2014
Arizona Coyotes
Playing career 2015–present

Christian Dvorak (born February 2, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey center for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 58th overall, by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

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Junior

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Dvorak started his playing career with the Chicago Mission U16 and U18 teams.[1] After his impressive seasons in Chicago, he was chosen sixth overall in the United States Hockey League (USHL) Futures Draft, as well as in the eighth round of the 2012 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection Draft. He played the 2012–13 season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, but the following year decided to move to Canada to play for the London Knights of the OHL.

After the 2013–14 season, he was selected in the second round of that year's NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes, who also drafted his former Knights teammates Max Domi and Brendan Burke.

His rise to stardom began in the 2014–15 season, where he was second on the team with a staggering 109 points, only behind linemate Mitch Marner. On April 18, 2015, Dvorak signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year, entry-level deal with the Arizona Coyotes.[2] He was assigned on an amateur tryout (ATO) contract to make his professional debut with American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates.[3]

Dvorak was named co-captain of the Knights at the beginning of the 2015–16 season, sharing the honor with Marner. Throughout the season, Dvorak played on the top line alongside the foregoing as well as Matthew Tkachuk. At the season's end, he led the team with 121 points, surpassing his previous best.[4]

Dvorak helped the London Knights win the 2016 Memorial Cup championship game at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta to end his junior career.[5]

Professional

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Arizona Coyotes (2016–2021)

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On November 3, 2016, Dvorak scored his first NHL goal on goalie Pekka Rinne to help clinch a win over the Nashville Predators. Dvorak also chipped in an assist on a goal scored by Anthony Duclair to tie the game. It was the first multi-point game of Dvorak's NHL career.[6]

On October 30, 2017, Dvorak scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season to help the Coyotes defeat the Philadelphia Flyers and avoid setting a new NHL record with a 12th-straight loss to start the season.[7] On August 9, 2018, Dvorak signed a six-year contract extension with the Coyotes.[8]

Dvorak began the 2018–19 season sidelined due to a pectoral muscle injury. On October 19, it was announced Dvorak underwent surgery to repair the torn pectoral muscle and was expected to take months to recover.[9]

Montreal Canadiens (2021–present)

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On September 4, 2021, Dvorak was traded by the Coyotes to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick.[10] With the decision made by the Canadiens not to match an offer sheet tendered to 2018 third overall selection Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the team suddenly had a void to fill at the center position. Already subject to trade rumors for an extended period, Dvorak was seen as an ideal candidate to fill the positional in need. Dvorak made his debut for the Canadiens on September 27, 2021 in a pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he scored a goal and added three assists.[11] The regular season began with major challenges for both Dvorak and the Canadiens, who experienced a historically bad season that led to much of the management being sacked. Dvorak was injured in January and missed two months of play, but saw his output improve on his return under new head coach Martin St. Louis. He finished the season with 11 goals and 22 assists in 56 games.[12][13][14]

The 2022–23 season saw Dvorak register no points through his first seven games. Head coach St. Louis, when asked about the Dvorak line, remarked "they have to continue doing what they're doing. All the statistics we have on their game, all the chances they produce, the way they defend, they're very good, they just haven't gotten the results."[15] Two days later, on October 29, 2022, Dvorak scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–4 victory over the St. Louis Blues, notching two goals within minutes at the start of the third period and adding an empty netter at the end of the game.[16] On March 7, 2023, he sustained a season-ending knee injury in a 4–3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.[17]

On January 4, 2024, it was announced Dvorak would miss the remainder of the season following surgery for yet another torn pectoral muscle. Unfortunately, this would mark the second straight season-ending surgery for Dvorak after playing in only 25 games during the 2023-24 season.[18] At the time of his injury, Dvorak's faceoff percentage of 59.93% ranked 8th in the NHL.[19]

International play

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Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Finland

Dvorak made his junior international debut when he played for the United States under-20 Hockey team in the 2016 World Junior Championships tournament, winning a bronze medal. He had scored eight points in seven games.[20][21]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Chicago Mission HPHL U18 31 19 33 52 4 — — — — —
2012–13 Chicago Steel USHL 9 2 3 5 2 — — — — —
2013–14 London Knights OHL 33 6 8 14 0 — — — — —
2014–15 London Knights OHL 66 41 68 109 24 10 5 8 13 0
2014–15 Portland Pirates AHL 2 1 1 2 4 5 0 1 1 0
2015–16 London Knights OHL 59 52 69 121 27 18 14 21 35 4
2016–17 Arizona Coyotes NHL 78 15 18 33 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Arizona Coyotes NHL 78 15 22 37 22 — — — — —
2018–19 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Arizona Coyotes NHL 20 2 5 7 2 — — — — —
2019–20 Arizona Coyotes NHL 70 18 20 38 12 9 2 1 3 0
2020–21 Arizona Coyotes NHL 56 17 14 31 12 — — — — —
2021–22 Montreal Canadiens NHL 56 11 22 33 24 — — — — —
2022–23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 10 18 28 6 — — — — —
2023–24 Montreal Canadiens NHL 30 5 4 9 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 452 93 123 216 104 9 2 1 3 0

Awards and honors

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Award Year Ref
CHL
Memorial Cup champion 2016 [22]
Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2016 [23]
OHL
J. Ross Robertson Cup champion 2016 [24]
First All-Star Team 2016 [25]

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2016 United States WJC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 3 5 8 8
2017 United States WC 5th 8 1 0 1 6
Junior totals 7 3 5 8 8
Senior totals 8 1 0 1 6

References

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  1. ^ Chapin Landvogt. "Hockey's Future - Christian Dvorak". Hockeysfuture.com. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  2. ^ "Coyotes sign Dvorak to entry-level contract". Arizona Coyotes. April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015 – via NHL.com.
  3. ^ "Arizona Coyotes may have gotten lucky with Christian Dvorak". Five For Howling. February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  4. ^ "Christian Dvorak Proving Doubters Wrong - TSS". Todaysslapshot.com. December 8, 2015. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  5. ^ Dave Vest (May 29, 2016). "Dvorak Helps London Capture Memorial Cup". Arizona Coyotes – via NHL.com.
  6. ^ Dave Vest (November 4, 2016). "'Yotes Notes: Dvorak Scores First NHL Goal". Arizona Coyotes – via NHL.com.
  7. ^ Mike Cranston (October 31, 2017). "Coyotes defeat Flyers in OT for first win". Arizona Coyotes – via NHL.com.
  8. ^ "Coyotes Sign Dvorak to Six-Year Contract Extension". Arizona Coyotes. August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2018 – via NHL.com.
  9. ^ Dave Vest (October 19, 2018). "Dvorak Expected to Miss Major Chunk of Season". Arizona Coyotes. Retrieved October 20, 2018 – via NHL.com.
  10. ^ "Canadiens acquire forward Christian Dvorak". Montreal Canadiens. September 4, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021 – via NHL.com.
  11. ^ "Dvorak notches four points for Habs as Canadiens knock off Leafs". Sportsnet.ca. September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  12. ^ Dylan Waugh (September 9, 2022). "Montreal Canadiens 2021-22 Forward Ratings: Christian Dvorak". Habs Eyes on the Prize. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Marco D'Amico (April 29, 2022). "Canadiens Christian Dvorak Quietly Living Up To The Hype". Montreal Hockey Now. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  14. ^ Arpon Basu (April 8, 2022). "The Martin St. Louis reset has benefitted Christian Dvorak as much as, or more than, any of his Canadiens teammates". The Athletic. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  15. ^ Arpon Basu (October 28, 2022). "Christian Dvorak and the Canadiens' constant battle between process and results". The Athletic. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  16. ^ David Solomon (October 29, 2022). "Christian Dvorak has 1st hat trick, Canadiens beat Blues 7-4". Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  17. ^ "Dvorak to miss rest of season for Canadiens following knee surgery". NHL.com. March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  18. ^ "Dvorak out for season for Canadiens with torn pectoral muscle". NHL.com. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "NHL Scoring Leaders 2023-2024". QuantHockey.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  20. ^ "Christian Dvorak and his case for the Calder". Five For Howling. March 24, 2017.
  21. ^ "Christian Dvorak Bio". Montreal Canadiens – via NHL.com.
  22. ^ Sarah McLellan (June 9, 2016). "Arizona Coyotes' Dvorak wins junior title, eyes NHL". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  23. ^ Josh Sweetland (June 1, 2016). "2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup Awards & All-Stars". CHL.ca. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  24. ^ "LONDON WINS 2015-2016 OHL CHAMPIONSHIP". CHL.ca. May 13, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  25. ^ Josh Sweetland (June 2, 2016). "OHL Announces 2015-16 All-Star Teams". CHL.ca. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
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