The Philadelphia Flyers signed center Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension on Monday. Dvorak, 29, was a pending unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year, $5.4 million deal with the Flyers on July 1. The contract, worth $5.15 million annually, includes a no-trade clause for the first two years and a limited no-trade clause in Years 3 and 4, and is without any trade protection in Year 5, according to a team source.
In 39 games this season, Dvorak has nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points. He has been skating as the Flyers’ top-line center in recent weeks between wingers Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras.
Daily Faceoff was the first to report the length of the extension.
Currently in his 10th NHL season, Dvorak, drafted in the second round by the Arizona Coyotes in 2014, has 274 points (114 goals, 160 assists) in 573 career games with the Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens and Flyers.
Dvorak has fit in seamlessly playing again for Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, who also coached him in Arizona. He is tied with Owen Tippett for third on the team in scoring, is second among Flyers forwards in average ice time on the penalty kill, and has won 54 percent of his faceoffs.
Dvorak is currently on pace for the best offensive season of his career. In 2019-20, he posted a career-high 38 points in 70 games for Tocchet’s Coyotes.
Extending Dvorak helps the Flyers remain competitive in the near term, as the 2026 free-agent market already looks thin, and buys more time for some of their center prospects including Jett Luchanko (first round, 2024), Jack Berglund (second round, 2024) and Jack Nesbitt (first round, 2025) to keep developing.
At the same time, the Flyers now have three centers under contract for the foreseeable future. Sean Couturier is signed through 2029-30 at a $7.75 million salary-cap hit, while Noah Cates is in the first season of his four-year, $16 million extension through 2028-29. Dvorak’s deal takes him through 2030-31.
The move shows general manager Daniel Briere has faith that this season’s Flyers will remain in the playoff race, as Dvorak would have been a hot commodity on the trade market had the Flyers faltered. The contract extension could be viewed as a reward by Briere to the current team for the position it has put itself in at the near-halfway point of the regular season. At 21-12-7, the Flyers are third in the Metropolitan Division and own the fourth-best points percentage (.613) in the Eastern Conference ahead of Monday night’s games.
“We’re very happy to have Christian be a part of the Philadelphia Flyers for the foreseeable future,” said Briere. “He has played a pivotal role in our team’s success this season and proven to be a reliable, two-way center that can be trusted in all situations. More importantly, he plays a big role in our locker room and has fit in seamlessly to our group and what we are building.”
The Flyers host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.