Canadiens acquire Christian Dvorak from Coyotes for two draft picks

The Montreal Canadiens have acquired forward Christian Dvorak from the Arizona Coyotes for a first and second-round draft pick.

The Coyotes will receive the better of either Montreal’s or Carolina’s first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft along with the Canadiens’ second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. If either the Canadiens or Hurricanes first-round pick are top 10 picks in the 2022 NHL Draft, Montreal will send the worse of the two picks.

The trade comes after the Canadiens declined to match the offer sheet from the Hurricanes for Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Montreal received a first and third round pick in return.

Dvorak played in all 56 games for Arizona last season scoring 17 goals and 31 points while winning 52.1 per cent of his faceoffs. In five seasons with the Coyotes, the 25-year-old has recorded 146 points in 302 career games.

“The reason we chose to move him is because of what we could get for him. He was a huge piece of our team,” Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said about the deal. “You know, people talk about his production, but what you have to remember is how good he is off the draw. He can score and he can also play good defence.”

Along with Dvorak’s ability to play strong defensively, Armstrong believes he’ll be a strong asset to the Canadiens on the power play.

“He does the little things that nobody sees that really make a difference. And it’s just his ability to score from the front in and net in the power play,” Armstrong explained. “He’s going to be a good player for the Montreal Canadiens. And I think all the little things that he does, you know, he’s going to be a coach’s dream.”

The Coyotes selected Dvorak in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft. Dvorak has four more years left on his contract with a $4.45 million cap hit.