Coyotes trade Dvorak to Canadiens for 2 picks

The Arizona Coyotes dealt center Christian Dvorak to the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of draft picks Saturday.

Arizona will receive the better selection between Montreal's own 2022 first-round pick and the first-rounder the Canadiens acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier Saturday. The Coyotes will also get Montreal's second-round pick in 2024 as part of the deal.

However, if either or both of the first-rounders are in the top 10, the Coyotes will instead receive the worse selection in addition to the second-rounder.

The Canadiens landed Dvorak to replace Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Finnish forward whose offer sheet Montreal declined to match Saturday, making him a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canadiens nabbed a first-round pick and a third-round selection as compensation in that transaction.

The timing of the latest move wasn't exactly ideal for Dvorak.

Dvorak played five seasons with the Coyotes. He collected 17 goals and 14 assists while averaging a career-high 18:24 of ice time in 2021, suiting up for all 56 games.

The 25-year-old also won 52.1% of his 1,062 faceoffs last season and has a career average of 51.5% in that department. Dvorak authored subpar underlying numbers in 2021, but so did his team as a whole.

Arizona chose him 58th overall in 2014.