As Christian Dvorak’s 30th birthday breaks on the horizon, he could be in line for quite the present as rumors have begun to swirl that the Flyers are considering signing him to a contract extension. But the whispers have opened some old wounds for the Flyers’ faithful, who are all too familiar with the love affair the front office has with expensive depth players.
So should the Flyers really be re-signing Dvorak? Let’s weigh some pros and cons!
Pros
He’s a center
This is the major pull Dvorak has going for him right now. He’s a center and can win faceoffs. Both are glaring holes on the current Flyers’ roster. Even if he can’t replicate his career year in the future, hovering as a respectable pair of hands in the bottom six is still high on the need list for the Flyers.
He’s a Tocchet guy
Is this a positive? That’s up for debate, but it is certainly a driving force for the fact that he was given an opportunity of this size this season to begin with. If the hope is not regressing in 2026-27, then remaining in favor with the coach would go a long way to giving him the best opportunity to replicate his career year.
Cons
A career year
In what would be a classic Flyers move, they’ll ink Dvorak to a big extension as he’s on pace to shatter any previous career highs in goals and points, but given he’s 30 with nearly 600 games under his belt, what are the odds this is actually his new norm? Does he get a shiny extension then immediately return to a 20-point depth player for the remainder of his career? The answer, historically, tends to be yes.
Trade value?
Typically, when vets sign one-year deals they do so to be trade fodder at the deadline. That was originally the goal with Dvorak, but as usual, the Flyers see a little bit of value and decide to cling to it rather than capitalize on selling it. The Flyers hanging around a precious playoff spot in a very crowded Eastern Conference will surely play into their consideration, but unless a fall from grace happens quick, they probably won’ trade him regardless, which is a potential missed opportunity to continue to build for the future with many teams around the league shallow at center.
What does a contract look like?
If you give him more term does his AAV drop? Or is he now going to keep getting paid $5+ million with term? The early rumors seem to suggest a three-year, $5.5 million aav deal, which is just a three-year continuation of the contract he’s already on. The Flyers have more than enough cash to make a deal work and with the salary cap set to grow exponentially over the next few years, it’s not really a problem to spend a little extra now, but do you commit to another 30-year-old bottom six forward for multiple years?
Conclusion
The Flyers have worked themselves into quite a situation with Dvorak and their center depth as a whole. This isn’t a particularly new story, it’s been their biggest problem for just about a decade now since they traded Brayden Schenn to bank on Nolan Patrick and Morgan Frost.
“They don’t have any center depth so they have no choice but to re-sign Dvorak” serving as the main argument for keeping the player is both partially true and equally painfully stupid.
The reality is they’ve got no game-changing internal options coming anytime soon and 2026 is shaping up to be a complete dud of an offseason. Thus, Dvorak is probably coming back out of sheer necessity.
But the Flyers are mostly responsible for their own inaction on this one. They haven’t even made an attempt to add a semi-notable outside center since Kevin Hayes back in 2019. Add on to that their “close your eyes and pick a name” drafting style over the last handful of years has left their pipeline very weak.
They could’ve, at any point, attempted to dig themselves out of the hole and they didn’t. Thus, they almost have to over-commit to Dvorak.
Let’s, for funzies, say that Dvorak will, for a fact, post another solid season for at least next year. That’s great and all, but re-signing your own players is not an addition to the team. Dvorak returning doesn’t fix the gigantic hole at center, it just doesn’t take them a step back. The front office still has to find a way to make an addition in the top six to be truly competitive.
Where does that help come from? That’s the real question that needs to be asked.
There are worse guys they could lock up long-term. In fact, there’s a half dozen worse contracts on the roster right now, even if Dvorak comes back with a three-year deal. But re-signing Dvorak (particularly on a contract with term) is short-sighted and painfully on-brand for a Flyers team that remains way too focused on depth pieces rather than adding stars.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
brotherlypuck.com 