Coyotes sign Dvorak to 6-year extension
Throughout the majority of this offseason, the main priority for Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka has been solidifying the team’s depth at the center position for the time being.
Now, with the club announcing a sixyear contract extension for 22-year-old center Christian Dvorak on Thursday, the Coyotes seem intent on making sure that depth will last for an extended period of time.
The extension for Dvorak, who will ride out the final year of his entry-level contract during the 2018-19 season, gives the Coyotes five centers who are signed for at least the next two years.
Dvorak, whose extension will expire after the 2024-25 season, joins Derek Stepan (2020-21 expiration), Alex Galchenyuk (2019-20), Dylan Strome (201920) and Brad Richardson (2019-20) as centers who are in line to play at least the next two seasons in Arizona.
Still, there is a considerable amount of risk in signing Dvorak to such a long deal, especially when you consider that the club will pay him an average of $4.45 million per season over the tenure of the extension, according to multiple sources.
“I’ve been around enough successful people and business people to understand that we’re happy to invest in someone like Christian Dvorak,” Chayka said via conference call on Thursday. “Obviously he’s a very talented person and player. There’s a few different ways you can work with a player coming out of his entry-level deal.
“You can wait it out three years and deal with it then, you can look to do a bridge, and you can look to do term. Our view is that this is a player we want a part of our group for the long haul.”
Chayka said the Coyotes are banking on the reward of locking up a young, premium-position player such as Dvorak. He said extension talks with Dvorak’s camp have been ongoing since training camp last September.
Dvorak, a second-round pick by the club in 2014, has played just two NHL seasons thus far and has performed at a competent rate relative to his ice time as a third-line center. He totaled 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in his rookie year and marginally improved to 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) last season.