Christian Dvorak has signed a new contract with the Arizona Coyotes.

Good deal. Dvorak will become an ever better player so $4,45M is good for the Coyotes.

Exactly, hes looking like a great middle 6 C

Like the deal. ARZ is going to extract a ton of value out of that price.

His salary might not reflect his current point totals but they will likely surpass his salary before the contract is up.

It might be a little early to sign him for that much ... but i see a lot of potential in him.

He was a little under .5 points per game as a 21/22 year old and plays a solid two-way game, so he's only going to get better. He could easily become a solid 55 point scorer and can play either center or wing. It's a bit much right now, but they can afford it. It'll be very important when they're on the rise and have a good value contract like this one.

Still cheaper than Tom Wilson.

people said the same thing about Couturier when the Flyers gave him the same contract. "Never cracked 40 points," "he'll only be a 3C," etc. Sometimes guys put it together a bit later and you can usually tell by looking at the numbers. There are a lot of positives in his game and he'll keep getting better for sure.

Very good signing by the Coyotes, Dvorak has nice upside and this AAV could be gold in a few years.

how is there as many no's as yes's here. 30 to 40 point guy on a consistently terrible team. This guy is nowhere near his potential ceiling and if the yotes ever get some decent talent to play around him and turn into a good team this guy could be 50-60 point guy.

tons of upside with good money for what he has produced so far. if he produces the same for the life of the contract its still a steal.

come on people get some hockey sense

Agreed. The current going rate for solid #2 Centers is around $6M AAV. Look at Kyle Turris last season: 51 points between both OTT and NSH. He had tons of talent on his wings in both cities. Adam Henrique is better now, but just signed an extension worth $5.85M AAV. Even 3rd line Centers are making over $4M: Nick Bonino, Brock Nelson, and Frans Nielsen are all over $4M. No question this is a risk/reward contract given the term, but at $4.45M AAV I don't see much downside. If he ends up putting up 50+ points in a couple years it'll be a bargain at $6M, especially if the Cap continues to rise.

bad cap hit now, but will be good in the future

He should be out-playing his cap hit in a couple years.

This is the type of contract Bergevin should have signed Domi to....even if it was closer to a $5,000,000 cap-hit.

Montreal won't go anywhere near the cap for the next two years....but if Domi plays we'll....he's going to expect something like $7,000,000 x 7 years.

And it'll be right around the time they hit a big cap crunch with mediocre players:

Price = $10,500,000
Weber = $7,900,000
Petry = $5,500,000
Droin = $5,500,000
Alzner = $4,600,000
Shaw = $3,900,000
Total = $38,000,000

Domi = ????
Gallagher = ????
Danault = ????
Armia = ????
Juulsen = ????
Mete = ????
Kotkaniemi = ????
Poehling = ????

I'd like to see the arguments of those who thinks that's a bad deal. But I'm sure any of them will convince me that they're right.

Very good deal for Coyotes, specially. Why? Because right now it's a bit overpaying. But in the next 2 or 3 years we'll likely see great cost and benefits in this contract. Dvorak is a good two-way C and has potential to be a very good middle 6 C. Besides, Arizona can afford this contract.

I'd like to see him traded to my team. He'd fit pretty well in Pitt and in most of the NHL teams. So, that's the only bad thing about the deal.

I think Montreal management may have been nervous to give Domi a long term deal due to his lack of production in the past two seasons. Now I still think Domi is extremely talented and has loads of upside that can be tapped into with the right line mates, meaning the Habs may very well have the headache of giving Domi more than they would have liked.

Dvorak will be in between a 2C & 3C salary wise (in 13 months when this deal kicks in) but this cap hit will likely be closer to what the average 3C makes in 5/6 years. So even if he doesn’t progress as much as expected he still would be a solid and not grossly overpaid 3C on a team deep down the middle.

And that’s the WORST CASE scenario! I don’t see how people can think this is a bad deal (almost 40% have!

As it stands now he is a solid 3C already (and in the Coyotes depth chart after Stephan and Galchenyuk) and would be an upgrade on almost any team other than Toronto (Kadri), Florida (Bjugstad), Tampa (Johnson), Pittsburgh (Brassard), and maaaaybe San Jose (Thornton), Nashville (Bonino), and Washington (Eller).

Locking that Centre depth up is vital to competing in today’s NHL and the Coyotes have secured a bright future with this deal. The Coyotes will surprise in the Pacific this year and will actually be in the playoff conversation with their Goaltending shores up and their depth down the middle.

(Not a homer, Leafs fan here)

I know right?! I can’t believe over 1/3 of readers (or voters at least - who I would think are knowledgeable about Cap Hit issues) are not in favour of this contract?! It’s one of the best signings of the off-season & follows on a series of relatively small but smart moves by Coyotes management.

I think they see an opening with California teams aging and their windows of competition opening, which is leaving the Pacific Division the unequivocally weakest division in the whole NHL. In 2-3 years the Coyotes could be on top and I could see them competing for a Top-3 position this season, tho it may be a bit early. But with Stepan/Galchenyuk/Dvorak down the middle for the next few years they have a deep and solid, albeit not elite 1/2/3 punch down the middle which, as we have seen, is a vital ingredient for success in today’s NHL.

What it is now doesn’t matter as it doesn’t kick in for 13 months. If Dvorak continues to develop, a 18-20G & 45-50P season this year is not out of the question and he is a solid 3C already. If he hits that, the ask would likely be over 5M over 6 years at that point. This way they sign him for little more than 3C money so even if he doesn’t develop into a legit 2C option he isn’t being overpaid. The cap hit is between the 2C & 3C range but, certainly, in 5 years, it will likey approximate what 3C’s will be making.

Yep! You, me, and everyone thus far has iterated the same thing.

I want to read a rationale defence for why this is a bad contract, right?! I’m truly curious cause IMHO this is one of THE BEST deals signed this off-season. It’s not without its risk but it could easily be one of those “amazing signings” when we look back 5 years from now.

Agreed. His significant inconsistency - not entirely his fault but nonetheless it’s there - and his injury history coupled with (likely unfairly) his medical history (of Diabetes) could all have factored into the bridge.

Bergeron could also be on a short leash in Montreal & have a limit on the length of new contracts. They’re not accustomed to losing in Montreal (they’re the Yankees of the NHL, when it comes down to it), and Bergevin has bungled contract after trade after trade after contract for the past 3 years. I would be shocked if Bergevin is around to draft new players come next June - barring a miraculous turn around this year I think his days on the island are numbered.

I'd agree with most of the teams you listed there. The Panthers stack their top 6; Bjugstad played the back half of the season with Aleksander Barkov and Evgeny Dadonov, the 2nd line will likely be Vincent Trocheck with Jonathan Huberdeau and Mike Hoffman, and the 3rd line's centered by Jared McCann, who's probably playing with Frank Vatrano and Jamie McGinn. It's possible McCann won't be awful, but he's not a proven commodity yet.

I also wouldn't call Jumbo Joe the 3C in San Jose, 'cause he got top-6 minutes with Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier while he was healthy. Chris Tierney's more likely to be 3C, but he's also competent, having scored 17 G and 40 P last season.

The Leafs, Lightning, Penguins, Predators, and Capitals all definitely have top-tier center depth, and the Coyotes, on paper, I would put in the 2nd tier of "they're starting to look better and better."

These contracts are really starting to make me nervous with the Bruins and their slew of RFA's coming up in the next few seasons.

Bjork, Heinen, Donato, DeBrusk, Carlo, McAvoy. Yikes.

To a lesser extent they'd also have JFk, Senyshyn and Zboril as well over the next few years. Of course these three will depend a lot on if they make the jump and their impact.