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Canucks were outbid by Flyers for Dvorak in free agency: report

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
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Jul 2 2025, 11:43 pm
Canucks were outbid by Flyers for Dvorak in free agency: report
David Kirouac/Imagn Images

The Vancouver Canucks have Brock Boeser, but they’re down a centre.

With Pius Suter leaving for St. Louis in free agency on Wednesday, the Canucks’ centre depth is paper thin. They have Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, and Teddy Blueger down the middle, followed by a bunch of players that are still trying to prove themselves at the NHL level in Nils Åman, Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and Ty Mueller.

But it’s not like they didn’t try to do something about it.

The Canucks were in hot pursuit of Christian Dvorak, a 29-year-old centre that played the past four seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. They lost a bidding war to the Philadelphia Flyers, who signed him to a one-year contract worth $5.4 million, according to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.

“The Canucks’ No. 1 priority on July 1st was not Brock Boeser. It was Christian Dvorak,” Dhaliwal said on Wednesday’s edition of Donnie and Dhali. “The Canucks got into a bidding war with Philadelphia over Dvorak… He wasn’t going to be second-line centre, he was going to be third-line centre.”

Dvorak scored 33 points (12-21-33) in 82 games with Montreal last season. His career-best season came in 2019-20 when he scored 38 points (18-20-38) with the Arizona Coyotes.

There weren’t many centre options available in free agency this year, with Mikael Granlund the top centre available. He signed a three-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks for $7 million per season.

It remains to be seen what the Canucks will do. They have time before the start of next season to complete a trade, though that won’t be easy.

They could opt to go with what they have at centre and lean into other strengths. That puts a lot of pressure on Pettersson to bounce back in a big way and on Chytil to stay healthy.

If they did want to sign a centre in free agency, their options are even more limited now. Jack Roslovic is available, but that’s about it for centres with a hope to hold down a spot on the second line.

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