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Canadiens Trade Talk

NHL Source ‘Can’t See Dvorak Starting Season With Canadiens’

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Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens centre Christian Dvorak has become the subject of numerous NHL trade rumours this summer and according to one NHL executive source, the smoke has definitely turned into fire when it comes to Dvorak on the NHL trade market.

“His name has been out there since before the NHL trade deadline but I hear it way more now,” this source told Montreal Hockey Now late Tuesday afternoon. “I can’t see Dvorak starting the season with the Canadiens. There’s way more than smoke there and with such a reasonable contract, there’s plenty of teams, especially contenders that need a centre and are interested in him.”

Christian Dvorak is heading into the fourth season of a six-year contract that carries a $4.45 AAV. He is coming off what could easily be described as a bad season with 11 goals and 15 assists in 56 games. However, there was a drastic improvement and jump in his game after he returned from a two-month hiatus with a lower-body injury and started playing under newly hired head coach Martin St. Louis. Dvorak would close the season out with four goals and 13 assists in 22 games under St. Louis and according to this same source, that definitely made him more attractive on the NHL trade market.

“I mean, even after the bad first half of the season, he there was still interest in him when he came back right before the NHL trade deadline (March 21) right? So his finish definitely upped his trade stock,” the source said.

Since the NHL Draft concluded in Montreal on July 8, the Canadiens have been linked more and more in NHL trade rumours to Winnipeg Jets centre and Quebec native Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dvorak’s name has come up as potentially part of a return for Dubois but the Jets aren’t the only team interested.

“I can tell you that I know three teams that have talked to Kent [Hughes] more than once about him, and I’m sure there’s more,” the source said. “Look, do I think Kent wants to move him. …probably not, but he needs to free up cap space for other things he’s doing that he believes helps him now and in the future and obviously Dubois is one of those things.”

So as the Dubois to the Canadiens NHL trade rumours continue, expect to hear Dvorak’s name, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he ends up in Winnipeg; it just means that the NHL Betting Odds he gets traded before the 2022-23 season opener are very high.