The Canadiens will welcome back center Christian Dvorak to their lineup tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that he will make his season debut tonight, meaning that they will activate him off LTIR.
The 27-year-old was acquired back in 2021 to replace Jesperi Kotkaniemi whose offer sheet with Carolina went unmatched; Montreal flipped the first-round pick they acquired from Kotkaniemi as part of the trade package that went to Arizona. However, Dvorak hasn’t quite been able to lock down a full-time spot in Montreal’s top six since then.
Last season, Dvorak had 10 goals and 18 assists in 64 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in March and undergoing surgery thereafter. The recovery took a bit longer than normal, resulting in the Canadiens starting him on LTIR. In the end, he’ll miss just the minimum number of games.
With Dvorak returning, Alex Newhook is expected to shift back to the wing. Newhook had been moved down the middle when Kirby Dach suffered his season-ending knee injury last month with the team being thin on center options but now Dvorak can slide into that role.
Montreal will need to create a roster spot to activate Dvorak. That can either be done by assigning defenseman Gustav Lindstrom to AHL Laval or by placing Rafael Harvey-Pinard on IR with the winger already being ruled out for tonight’s game. With the Canadiens having Carey Price on LTIR as well, they won’t face any challenges on the salary cap front with Dvorak’s activation.