Christian Dvorak was traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday for two draft picks, including a first-round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The trade was made about an hour after the Canadiens announced their decision to not match the offer sheet tendered by the Carolina Hurricanes to restricted free agent forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi on Aug. 28. Montreal received a first-round pick and a third-round pick in the 2022 draft as compensation from Carolina.
"You know, this amount of money ($6.1 million) on a one-year deal for a player who should be making a lot less, it could affect our future," Canadiens general Marc Bergevin said Monday when asked why they didn't match the offer sheet. "We have a structure or salary cap that we need to work with, and we have some young players coming through that we want to keep. So it put us in a situation where we had to make a decision what works best for our team now and moving forward, and being able to acquire Christian Dvorak certainly made our decision easier."
Dvorak, a 25-year-old forward, has four seasons remaining on the six-year contract he signed Aug. 9, 2018, with Arizona, which did not disclose financial terms. He scored 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) in 56 games last season.
"I didn't try to think about all these rumors too much during the summer, but obviously Montreal, I'd heard a lot about them being in the rumors," Dvorak said. "And once that offer sheet situation came about, I figured it might be more of a possibility.
"Ultimately, I'm excited to be on a team that wants to win right now. And obviously they made a great run last year (losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final), so hopefully I can help improve their team a little bit and help them win."
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 NHL games and three points (two goals, one assist) in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"At the end of the day, we really like the acquisition of Christian Dvorak, who we were able with one of those draft picks (as compensation for Kotkaniemi) to go get this young center to help the organization for several years since he is signed, from our point of view, to a good salary cap that fits in well in the organization's structure," Bergevin said.
"He's a responsible two-way center. He is not going to be the player that is going to wow you, but his detail to the game is very good. He plays an honest game. He'll have different wingers than he had in Arizona. Arizona is in a different stage than the Montreal Canadiens are. … There's a lot to like about Christian Dvorak."
The Coyotes will receive the higher of the Canadiens' two first-round picks in the 2022 draft and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft for Dvorak. If either or both of the first-round picks is in the top 10, 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," Arizona 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."
The Canadiens (24-21-11, 59 points) finished fourth in the seven-team Scotia North Division last season before advancing to the Cup Final for the first time since they won the Cup in 1993.
The Coyotes (24-26-6, 54 points) finished fifth in the eight-team Honda West Division, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons.
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers and independent correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report
