Latest news with #ChristianDvorak
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NHL Free Agency: Flyers Quickly Knock Out 3 Big Needs
Christian Dvorak immediately improves the Flyers' depth at center. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images) The Philadelphia Flyers are on a crusade to start NHL free agency, quickly signing multiple players, including Christian Dvorak, to address some big team needs. The biggest - literally - and perhaps the most important piece of business from the Flyers Tuesday was signing 6-foot-5 goalie Dan Vladar, who is now the only non-prospect to be contracted beyond the upcoming 2025-26 season. Advertisement Vladar, 27, should provide some semblance of stability to a position that has had none for the Flyers in recent years, even if he's not quite good enough to elevate the Flyers as a whole. On the more surprising side, the Flyers also went out and added versatile forward Christian Dvorak on a one-year deal worth $5.4 million. This was, for all intents and purposes, and overpayment, even in this free agent market, but this was probably the cost the Flyers needed to pay to pry Dvorak away from Stanley Cup contenders. The 29-year-old played for new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet during their time together with the Arizona Coyotes and has six 30-point seasons to his name at the NHL level. Oh, and he's won more than 55% of his faceoffs in each of the last two seasons. Advertisement The Flyers needed a reliable replacement for the departed Scott Laughton and Ryan Poehling while they wait for Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt to develop, and signing Dvorak buys them another year for that. Additionally, with the salary retained in the Andrei Kuzmenko trade now off the books, the Flyers have one more salary retention available to use this season. Ex-Flyers Defenseman Ivan Provorov Signs Absurd Contract Ahead of NHL Free Agency Ex-Flyers Defenseman Ivan Provorov Signs Absurd Contract Ahead of NHL Free Agency The Philadelphia Flyers have won the Ivan Provorov trade in more ways than one. Assuming Dvorak has a good season in Philadelphia, the Flyers can retain half his salary and move him at the NHL trade deadline. Then, if Luchanko's season ends early, he can then replace Dvorak and join the Flyers at the end of the season. Advertisement Two moves that made less sense were the additions of journeymen defensemen Noah Juulsen (RHD) and Dennis Gilbert (LHD). These players could very well be brought in simply to breed competition for NHL roster spots, but fans won't be happy about the possibility two ineffective veterans with limited skillsets block prospects like Emil Andrae and Helge Grans from playing time. Including Cam York and excluding Grans, the Flyers now have nine defensemen on their NHL roster, so something is going to have to give a few months from now. It's worth noting that Juulsen was a favorite of Tocchet's on the Vancouver Canucks and is highly regarded for his shot blocking and penalty kill work, but he also didn't record a point in 35 games last season and is coming off a season-ending injury. Advertisement If the Flyers really wanted veterans to push for ice time, why not try Adam Ginning, a 25-year-old prospect on an expiring contract running out of time to crack the NHL? Hunter McDonald, Grans, and Louie Belpedio are there, too. The Flyers also added a depth forward in Lane Pedersen, who briefly played for Tocchet in the past, as well. With Tuesday's proceedings seemingly coming to a halt with a decision from Maxim Shabanov looming, the Flyers have $5.49 million in cap space with, hopefully, enough room to re-sign York and add Shabanov.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Flyers forced to overpay to add Christian Dvorak, Dan Vladar in free agency
VOORHEES, N.J. — The Philadelphia Flyers entered the first day of NHL free agency with two easily identifiable holes in their lineup. They wasted no time — or money — in filling either. Less than an hour after the market opened at noon ET on Tuesday, the club had agreed to a one-year, $5.4 million contract for Christian Dvorak, 29, while goaltender Dan Vladar, 27, was inked to a two-year deal at $3.35 million annually. Vladar's contract includes an eight-team no-trade clause, per a team source. Advertisement More veteran/minor league depth was added before the afternoon was over, including defensemen Noah Juulsen (one year, $900,000) and Dennis Gilbert (one year, $795,000); and center Lane Pederson (one year, two-way, $775,000). But Dvorak and Vladar were the much more notable additions, considering how vital it was for the Flyers had to address both of those key positions. Their inflated salaries — both of which were well above most projections — speaks to how desperate the Flyers were to find immediate help, coupled with what was a weak market. It was also strategic, according to general manager Daniel Briere, who would prefer maximum flexibility for the 2026 offseason, especially. According to PuckPedia, the Flyers are now approximately $4.6 million under the salary-cap ceiling, a total that doesn't include the coming extension for Cam York, but does include the injured Ryan Ellis' $6.25 million. '(The salaries) show that we focused on term — short term — to try to fill those holes,' he said. 'Guys were willing to bet on themselves, which is awesome. For us, term was way more important than anything else. But sometimes, you've got to give somewhere to entice those types of players to come in. We know that the salaries were very competitive. But where it helps us is, it keeps the flexibility, moving forward, in our favor.' Dvorak spent his last four seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, posting 12 goals and 21 assists in 82 games in 2024-25, playing mostly on a line with Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher. They formed what was essentially Montreal's second line in the second half of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs. Prior to joining Montreal in 2021, Dvorak spent five seasons with the Arizona Coyotes — the final four of which were with new Flyers coach Rick Tocchet behind the bench. Dvorak's best season came under Tocchet in 2019-20, when he posted 18 goals and 38 points for the Coyotes, both career-highs. Advertisement Dvorak can kill penalties and is strong in the faceoff circle, something that was important to the Flyers, particularly after they traded Ryan Poehling to the Ducks as part of the Trevor Zegras deal. While Zegras could also fill one one of the vacancies at center, he doesn't kill penalties and has been generally awful in the circle throughout his career. Dvorak gives Tocchet more flexibility to deploy different line combinations at different times, depending on certain game situations. 'He's a player that is not going to hurt you. Defensively, you can rely (on him) and play him against any lines,' Briere said. 'That's the interesting part. Matchup-wise, it makes his life easier with (Sean Couturier) being that way, (Noah) Cates being that way, (Jett) Luchanko is known (for that). … You don't have to worry about matchups.' Dvorak ran into some injury issues in Montreal. His season was cut short in 2022-23 when he tore his ACL, and after missing the first part of the 2023-24 season recovering, he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in January. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes on Tuesday said Dvorak 'had a real strong second half of the year' after overcoming his various ailments in recent seasons. 'I think what we saw of him in the second half is really what he is,' Hughes said. 'He just finally got back into a rhythm, back into real hockey shape.' In goal, Briere acknowledged that he did explore the trade market, but because it was thin and so many teams were seeking help, 'the prices were way more than we were willing to pay.' Other free agents were seeking deals of at least three years, which was a non-starter for the Flyers. In fact, Briere would have preferred to sign a goalie to just a one-year deal, 'but we realized to get some help, we needed to step it up a little bit.' Advertisement So enter Vladar, whose.895 career save percentage in 105 career games over five season isn't exactly eye-popping, but still figures to be a massive upgrade over the two backups the Flyers played regularly last season in Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov. It's safe to assume that Vladar and Samuel Ersson will form the tandem on opening night, while Fedotov presumably will be waived and assigned to AHL Lehigh Valley to serve as the emergency No. 3. The Flyers finished last season with the league's worst save percentage (.872). 'Dan Vladar told us very early on that he saw an opportunity,' Briere said. 'He wanted to come in and compete in Philadelphia. We jumped on it. … There's no perfect goalie that was available out there, but we feel he gives us a chance to come in and compete with our group and push the envelope. He has a chance to become our No. 1 depending on how he plays, (and) how our other guys play.' It's likely the Flyers' offseason is over, other than waiting to find out whether Russian prospect Maxim Shabanov will sign with them. There have been consistent, unverified reports out of Russia linking Shabanov to the Flyers, but nothing had been agreed to as of Tuesday afternoon. Briere said he had spoken with Shabanov's camp on Tuesday, and he's under the impression the Flyers are one of the teams the undersized but talented winger is considering, but they don't know which way he's leaning. Regardless of what happens with Shabanov, though, Briere sees a more competitive team than the one that finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL last season. 'We made the team a little better, and that's the goal,' he said. 'Keeps the flexibility for the future. But at the same time, brings some hope, and shows the fans and the players on the team that we're taking steps forward.' Briere also confirmed a report from that forward Tyson Foerster could miss the start of the season with an infection in his arm. Advertisement Foerster suffered an injury playing for Team Canada at the World Championships in May that Briere and the club didn't think was serious. But, 'there was some infection that set in to the elbow, and then it just got worse,' he said. 'He saw our doctors and decided they had to go in and remove the infection.' Briere indicated that the Flyers are still awaiting test results. 'At that point, we'll reevaluate and see if more needs to be done, or if we're lucky enough that's the end of it and he can move on and be ready for the start of the season. But there's no guarantee of that. We're sitting and waiting right now to see how serious it is or not.' The club's second-leading goal scorer last season with 25, Foerster signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract extension on May 29. (Photo of Christian Dvorak: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Canadiens have short-term holes, but their long-term goal seems more achievable
BROSSARD, Québec – To understand where the Montreal Canadiens are in their development as a team, on their path to contention, it suffices to look at Christian Dvorak. He was the only player the Canadiens had who could reliably win faceoffs on the left side, and coach Martin St. Louis constantly used him to do that whenever the faceoff was on that side of the ice. For a coach, it is a critical piece to have. Advertisement It is just as critical for a management team, and the Canadiens will surely have that piece one day, but they lack it now after Dvorak signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers worth $5.4 million — money the Canadiens simply didn't have to pay a bottom-six centre to win faceoffs and kill penalties. They also couldn't match the two-year contract Joel Armia signed with the Los Angeles Kings worth $2.5 million a year, a pay cut from his previous $3.4 million a year contract but still too rich for the Canadiens' blood. Armia played with Jake Evans on the Canadiens' top penalty-killing unit, and Dvorak played with Josh Anderson on the second unit. Those roles will now be an open audition at training camp in the fall. The Canadiens might still do something to replace those roles, but general manager Kent Hughes did not sound like a man who was prepared to do so at all costs, particularly not in a free-agent market that was typically goofy in terms of money and term some players signed for in a rising salary cap environment. No, instead of plugging short-term holes at great cost to help the Canadiens win today, Hughes and his boss Jeff Gorton focused on adding to what they hope will be a winning core in the future. 'Unfortunately, along the way to constructing what we hope to be a team that can compete, we're going to have to make decisions and those decisions on a short-term basis may be, we fill one hole and we have another hole in the boat,' Hughes said. 'But that's just the nature of the beast.' The opening day of free agency, from that perspective, was a win. The trade that sent defenceman Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues for winger Zachary Bolduc, from nearby Trois-Rivières, was a case of deft asset management. Adding Noah Dobson to the right side of the Canadiens' blue line on Friday had essentially blocked Mailloux's path to the NHL. The Canadiens took that player and turned him into one that addresses an area of need. Advertisement Bolduc scored 13 goals over his final 24 games of the season as the Blues pushed for a playoff spot, tied with rumoured Canadiens trade target Jordan Kyrou for the team lead over that period. He is 22 and just completed his rookie season. Bolduc is a physical player with speed who excels on the forecheck, fitting the profile of Emil Heineman, who went to the New York Islanders in the Dobson trade. And while Bolduc likely slides into a bottom-six role for the Canadiens this season, down the road it is very possible he becomes a top-six player. And down the road is what matters more to the Canadiens than whatever happens this season. The progression of this past season alone demonstrated the extent to which Bolduc is on an ascending path, and he has the right mindset to make sure that continues: words coach Martin St. Louis will absolutely love to hear. 'You don't want to have a ceiling,' Bolduc said. 'You want to improve every year, every time you get on the ice you want to take your game to another level. So, I don't know what my ceiling is, but I hope it won't be next year or the year after. I hope to keep improving year after year. 'I'm still learning. I've played two years pro but I have a lot left to learn.' There was a lot of talk at the end of the regular season that the Canadiens, who were the youngest team to qualify for the playoffs in decades, risk being younger next season, something some players — most notably captain Nick Suzuki — expressed reservations about. That, seemingly, is exactly what will happen. Dvorak, Armia and David Savard are out; Dobson, Bolduc and rookie Ivan Demidov are in. And Hughes is more than fine with it because, again, this is not about next season. 'I think when you can add experience and keep it young, that would be the ideal,' Hughes said. 'I think that's the case in Noah Dobson's situation where you get a young guy who played in the NHL as a teenager; he's 25 but he's got a significant amount of experience and at the same time he can grow with our group. So that's important. Bolduc, obviously he's a little bit younger, but he's not a rookie and he's coming from a team that had a lot of experience around him, which we think is certainly helpful. Advertisement 'But at the end of the day, the reality is we're not going to put the perfect team together in the course of one summer, so I think as we go about doing things, we recognize we have other things we'd like to accomplish. I just don't see us accomplishing everything all at once.' And thus there is a likely path here that the Canadiens begin next season with Suzuki, Evans, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach playing down the middle, with Newhook being the lone left-shot in the group and Suzuki and Evans being the only ones who can consistently win faceoffs. Oliver Kapanen will be given an opportunity to make the team, but he is also a right shot and faceoffs would be an issue for him as well. It's not perfect, but without a reasonable solution available on either the trade or free agent market — Dvorak, remember, signed for $5.4 million Tuesday — the preference was to wait for a long-term solution to the problem rather than commit money and/or term to an imperfect solution immediately. It's a sensible approach, one that has a longer view that any rebuilding team should have. And while the Dobson acquisition Friday signalled a new phase of the rebuild, the Canadiens are still in a rebuild. So, in the short term, you look for short-term, imperfect solutions, and Hughes suggested Tuesday he has asked all their players, no matter what position they play, to work on faceoffs in the offseason. 'As much as anything in the modern game, I feel centres, it's about faceoffs,' Hughes said. 'Because they switch positions, first guy back defends, those types of responsibilities are shared. The one thing that's not (shared) is faceoffs. So we're beating the drum with all of our guys that it's an important thing to work on in the offseason when you have time.' But having holes in your lineup also doesn't mean punting on next season. The Canadiens still hope to be a playoff team, and the additions of Dobson and Bolduc probably make that more probable despite the holes left on the roster on July 1, with lots of time still left to fill them in a sensible way. Advertisement 'I hope we make the playoffs,' Hughes said. 'I think that as a roster, we probably have a better chance than maybe we did last year at this time, but we found our way in and other teams that maybe were expected to didn't. You've still got to play the games. 'I think we still have work to do here from a management perspective to get to where we want to be, but I like the direction we're heading.' And that, ultimately, is the bottom line. And the direction the Canadiens are heading took a positive step in the last week. Here are some other Canadiens news and notes from the opening day of free agency: • Hughes answered in a very straightforward manner when asked if he intends on hanging on to defenceman Mike Matheson heading into next season: 'Yes.' Matheson has one year left on his contract and, with a cap hit of $4.875 million, would presumably be an extremely valuable trade chip. That is apparently no longer an option, though things can obviously change between now and training camp if an opportunity arises. 'Where did he finish in the league in minutes played? Top-10? So obviously the coaching staff relies on him,' Hughes said. (Matheson finished seventh.) 'We're young, still. We value his experience, we value what he does for our team. We have a puzzle to put together and we're going to try to do that, so we'll see where that goes.' • Hughes noted he has 'six and change' in salary cap space, which was somewhat revelatory. That means Carey Price's $10.5 million contract is heading to offseason long-term injured reserve (LTIR), which is a more restrictive form of LTIR than if the Canadiens would have been able to start the season with Price's contract on the books and put him on LTIR after the opening day of the season (one is far more rigid than the other is as far as I'm willing to go). So, the Canadiens still have some flexibility to add some money if needed. Advertisement This will be the final season of Price's contract, so the Canadiens will escape this restrictive situation next summer unless Hughes is able to trade Price to a team needing to reach the salary cap floor. The San Jose Sharks, for example, were a little over $9 million below the $70.6 million floor as of late Tuesday afternoon. This might be facilitated in September after the Canadiens pay out a $5.5 million bonus due to Price. • The Canadiens signed Samuel Blais to a one-year, one-way contract worth $775,000, and Hughes said he will be given every opportunity to make the NHL club in the fall after Blais spent all of the 2024-25 season in the AHL helping the Abbotsford Canucks win the Calder Cup. The physicality in Blais' game is what appeals to the Canadiens, and with Michael Pezzetta signing a two-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blais would be a good fit filling that role as an extra forward and energy guy. And if he is ultimately put through waivers and sent to the Laval Rocket, he proved this season how valuable he can be in the AHL. • The signing of goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to a one-year, one-way contract worth $1.15 million is another interesting move, especially in light of Cayden Primeau being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Jacob Fowler will need help in Laval, and Kahkonen can provide that. Hughes said Kahkonen will have an opportunity to battle Jakub Dobeš for the backup goalie job in Montreal, but acknowledged that giving Kahkonen a one-way contract would help ensure he gets through waivers if ever the Canadiens want to send him down to Laval, which is by far the most likely scenario here. It fills a serious need as the Canadiens would not have wanted Fowler to be on an island in Laval. His proper development is an important part of the process here. • Bolduc noted how he played the bumper position in the slot on the Blues power play, and though he was more accustomed to being a shooter on the flank to that point, he grew comfortable in that spot. He scored seven power-play goals last season from that spot, he said. The Canadiens have long searched for someone to effectively play that position, so Bolduc could have a good opportunity to fill it on the second power-play unit, where Newhook was the one normally playing there. The second unit might also see the additions of Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach if the Canadiens keep the first unit intact, which finished the season with Suzuki, Demidov, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský and Lane Hutson. That could be one of the better second power-play units in the NHL. • Finally, Blues GM Doug Armstrong was not necessarily happy to see Bolduc leave, just as Hughes was not happy to see Mailloux go. This was a trade where both teams took an area of surplus and addressed a position of need, a hockey trade in the truest sense. 'It's a bittersweet day having to trade Zack, how he's grown with us … he went to the American League, he came up here and he's played really good hockey,' Armstrong said. 'I think he's going to do great in Montreal. I don't want to speak for him, but I hope that him going home lessens the blow a little bit.'
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Philadelphia Flyers sign goalie Dan Vladar, center Christian Dvorak as NHL free agency begins
Architects of Las Vegas Sphere to design new arena for Flyers, Sixers in Philadelphia Architects of Las Vegas Sphere to design new arena for Flyers, Sixers in Philadelphia Architects of Las Vegas Sphere to design new arena for Flyers, Sixers in Philadelphia The Philadelphia Flyers opened NHL free agency Tuesday by signing goalie Dan Vladar, centers Christian Dvorak and Lane Pederson and defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert. Here's what we know and how each player is likely to fit into the Flyers' plans for the 2025-26 season. Who is Dan Vladar? The Flyers finally get a goalie The Flyers inked Vladar to a two-year contract with a $3.35 million annual average value, general manager Danny Briere announced. Vladar, 27, joins the Flyers' organization after spending the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames. Last season in Calgary, Vladar posted a 2.80 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. A 2015 third-round pick by the Boston Bruins, Vladar has a career .895 save percentage in 105 NHL games. Philadelphia entered the offseason needing a netminder to partner with Samuel Ersson. Flyers' goalies allowed 3.45 goals per game last season and had an NHL-worst .879 save percentage. Vladar's signing signals that Ivan Fedotov, who would have to clear waivers, will likely spend time in the AHL in 2025-26. Aleksei Kolosov, 23, remains under contract. Where does Christian Dvorak fit into the Flyers' lineup? Dvorak signed a one-year, $5.4 million deal with the orange and black, Briere announced. The 29-year-old center comes to Philadelphia with a previous connection to new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet. Dvorak played four seasons under Tocchet for the then-Arizona Coyotes from 2017-18 until 2020-21. Last season, Dvorak scored 12 goals and 33 points in 82 games for the Montreal Canadiens. He averaged over two minutes per game on the penalty kill and won 55.8% of his faceoffs. While playing for Tocchet in Arizona, Dvorak scored 52 goals and 113 points in 224 games. Dvorak gives Tocchet and the Flyers depth and insurance at center after the club traded fourth-liner Ryan Poehling in a package to acquire Trevor Zegras last week. All signs indicate that the Flyers will give Zegras the opportunity to play his natural position of center. Jett Luchanko, the Flyers' 2024 first-round pick, and undrafted signee Karsen Dorwart were also options to replace Poehling in the lineup, but neither was a guarantee to make the team. Dvorak, on a one-year deal, gives the coaching staff bottom-six depth at center. Flyers sign another free agent with a Rick Tocchet connection Dvorak wasn't the only free agent the Flyers signed Tuesday with a connection to the club's new head coach. Philadelphia signed right-handed defenseman Noah Juulsen to a one-year, $900,000 contract, Briere announced. Juulsen, a 2015 first-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens, spent the last four seasons playing for the Vancouver Canucks. For part of the previous three campaigns, Juulsen played for Tocchet when he was the head coach there. The 28-year-old defender is 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds and skated in 35 games last season for Vancouver. He averaged over 16 minutes of ice time and 2:21 on the penalty kill, which was second on Vancouver. Juulsen figures to provide the Flyers with depth at defense and likely be a regular in their defensive rotation. Another depth defenseman signed Dennis Gilbert, a lefty shot, comes to Philadelphia on a one-year, $875,000 contract, Briere announced. Gilbert, a 6-foot-2 blueliner, played mostly with the Buffalo Sabres last season but was traded to the Ottawa Senators in the Dylan Cozens deal. Overall, he had six assists in 29 NHL games last season. The 29-year-old has played parts of six NHL seasons, spending most of his career in the AHL. Gilbert will provide the Flyers with depth on the blue line and is likely to serve as a veteran option for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Flyers add AHL depth with another Tocchet connection The Flyers also signed center Lane Pederson to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000. Pederson has more than 70 games in the NHL over parts of three seasons, and if there's a common theme here, the 27-year-old has played for Tocchet twice. He played 15 games for Tocchet in Airzona in the 2020-21 season and 11 for the Canucks in 2022-23. After the Flyers opted not to qualify Elliot Desnoyers, making him an unrestricted free agent, Pederson likely factors in as an AHL forward and a call-up option.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canadiens: Christian Dvorak On His Season And The Rebuild
As the Montreal Canadiens cleared their lockers on Friday, the players spoke to the media one last time before heading for their Summer holidays. For some, there's nothing to worry about; they already know they'll be back next year since their contract isn't over. The situation is slightly different for center Christian Dvorak, who just played the last year of his six-year contract, with a $4,450,000 cap hit. Canadiens: Hutson On His Amazing Rookie SeasonFormer Canadiens Player Nominated For Bill Masterton TrophyCanadiens: Slafkovsky Knows What The Problem Is Of course, his future was what the press wanted to talk about, but he refused to discuss the matter, except to say: Yeah, I loved it here. It was a great season and a great group to be a part of. I love the guys, and I love playing here. We'll see what happens. - Christian Dvorak on the possibility of signing a new contract with Montreal. About his season, he agreed that he was in the right chair this year, adding he had developed great chemistry with Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson, the two players he spent most of the season playing with. The pending free agent also agreed that Montreal could become an interesting destination for free agents: Yeah, it definitely could be. I mean, winning certainly helps, and things are on the up here. The future's bright, and there are a lot of great players and talent. It's a great place to play, and the fans are awesome, so yeah, for sure. - Dvorak on the possibility of Montreal attracting more free agents. While it does sound like Dvorak would like to stick around, I think this will be the end of the line for him in Montreal. He was undoubtedly a good teammate and appreciated by the team leaders; after all, he was part of the 'circle of friendship' celebration after wins. He was Cole Caufield's roommate, but hockey is first and foremost a business. Since Kent Hughes has already signed Jake Evans to a contract extension and Dvorak doesn't play a major role in any special units, I struggle to understand how the GM could decide to keep him. Ils ont TOUS marqué (+2 autres) ce soirThe power of friendship ALL scored tonight#GoHabsGo — Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 26, 2025 The next step in the rebuild has to be introducing young players to bigger roles on the team so that they can develop properly and do it in the right chair, so to speak. Oliver Kapanen, now with an extra year of pro hockey in Sweden under his belt, could be ready for more, and the same is true for Owen Beck. Even Florian Xhekaj could be in the conversation to make the jump to the big league. Dvorak's acquisition was a panic move from Marc Bergevin after losing Philip Danault to free agency and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet. For his first three seasons in town, he failed to meet expectations that were too high and struggled with injuries. In a different role this year and playing a whole 82-game campaign for the first time in his career, he looked much better, but he wasn't playing a role that's impossible to replace. Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @ and Threads @karinehains. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
