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The Flyers\u2019 Trevor Zegras had 41 points in his first 41 games. (AP Photo\/Jeffrey T. Barnes)<\/p>\nThere was a bit of a mixed reaction to the Flyers\u2019 recent decision to re-sign center Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75-million contract extension.<\/p>\n
Some thought it was too much of a commitment to a player who turns 30 soon.<\/p>\n
Others believe it\u2019s the proper way for general manager Daniel Briere to show everyone he\u2019s now comfortable with the cards he\u2019s been dealt.<\/p>\n
In other words, when the trading deadline rolls around next month, he might, in poker terms, stick with a pat hand.<\/p>\n
At least one prominent member of the local hockey community, Chris Therien, believes the odds are stacked in Briere\u2019s favor due to moves like the Dvorak one.<\/p>\n
Therien, who played more games (753) than any defenseman in Flyers history and later launched careers in broadcasting\/podcasting, likes what Briere is trying to build here in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
In a way, it\u2019s sort of what the Flyers were doing in the late \u201890s, when they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 and came within a game of the championship round in 2000.<\/p>\n
Those teams had veteran leaders who had open ears and eyes to help with the development of young players. Dvorak fills that bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s played with [coach] Rick Tocchet before, so there\u2019s a trust between the two of them,\u201d Therien said in a telephone interview. \u201cSo that sometimes can be an arm of the coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd \u2018Devo\u2019 is a respected player that other players can go talk to. A coach can use that as a sounding board. I\u2019ve heard good things about him as a locker room guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the moment, Dvorak is having a career year and if things go well in the second half of the season, he will surpass most of his single-season records.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s had a career season,\u201d agreed Therien, who appears on the \u201cSnow the Goalie\u201d podcast. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to define it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting back to the premise the Flyers might have overpaid for the player, Therien had some thoughts on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people look at it and say \u2018why did they sign a guy who can\u2019t be your one or two seed?\u2019 in terms of what they\u2019re looking at,\u201d Therien said. \u201cBut he brings value, he can play up and down your lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe center free-agency market has thinned down a lot. So there wasn\u2019t a whole lot there that was going to be presented in the offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Flyers\u2019 Trevor Zegras had 41 points in his first 41 games. (AP Photo\/Jeffrey T. Barnes)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Dvorak\u2019s linemate, Trevor Zegras, is also on pace for a career year (41 points in his first 41 games). It\u2019s a given Dvorak has played a big role in Zegras\u2019 breakout season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Zegras came here, people weren\u2019t really sure if he was going to be a center,\u201d Therien said. \u201cInstead, because of the responsibility of Dvorak, it\u2019s given Zegras an opportunity to play his game, knowing he\u2019s got protection on the defensive side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
When a coach such as Tocchet is looking to sell his program, his system, it doesn\u2019t hurt to have a believer like Dvorak around either.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Therien said. \u201cThat helps get the coach\u2019s message across. When you have someone like Dvorak on board, you can get the message across a lot quicker. It helps when you\u2019re trying to get guys to buy into what the coach is selling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Briere wants key players in the fold who will have impact three, four, five years from now. Many believe Zegras\u2019 future will be examined next. He\u2019s a restricted free agent through 2026-27.<\/p>\n
So far, it looks like he\u2019s having a good time and the numbers reinforce that contention.<\/p>\n
If the Flyers are trying to build a foundation for consistent winning and contention year after year, they\u2019re off to a good start.<\/p>\n
Wayne Fish is a freelance writer. Follow his coverage at www.flyingfishhockey.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a bit of a mixed reaction to the Flyers\u2019 recent decision to re-sign center Christian Dvorak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,43,5095],"class_list":{"0":"post-400230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115872859832967149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}