Canadiens Face Critical Choice Between Dvorak & Evans at Center

All due respect to both Dvorak and Jake Evans, but, if you’re moving the latter up the lineup at the former’s expense, you’re even less likely to gain traction in the standings. And that’s what’s been happening, with Evans getting more ice time than Dvorak in five of the last seven games.

That’s nothing against Evans. He’s just not someone you generally associate or should with top-six offensive production. This is something the Canadiens have experimented with in the past, with relatively underwhelming results.

Evans’ Offensive Ceiling Is Clear

Evans broke out offensively in 2021-22, for all intents and purposes. However, that was in large part due to Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi departing the previous offseason, which effectively forced the Canadiens to promote him out of necessity and give him significant ice time with top-six mainstay Josh Anderson. The similar injury-related circumstances as what the Canadiens are experiencing this season far from helped.

On top of all that though, Evans’ breakout that season consisted of a modest 13 goals and 29 points. So, if you’re suddenly giving Evans over 20 minutes of ice time like the Canadiens did against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 9 and with the likes of Anderson and Sean Monahan, you’re hoping against all realistic expectations for something to click offensively.

True, Evans does suddenly have four points in his last seven games. He also scored his first goal since the first game of the season on Dec. 10 against the Nashville Predators, but that should tell you all you need to know. If this is some attempt to get Anderson, who has even less goals on the season (a single empty-net one), going it’s a misguided one.

What About Dvorak?

Maybe it falls under the “well, we’ve tried everything else” category. However, have they really? The obvious solution may be staring the Canadiens in the face, with Dvorak having had limited playing time with the beleaguered power forward this season. The two got played just 21:30 on a line with the now-injured Alex Newhook . For God’s sake, head coach Martin St. Louis kept Newhook between Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky for over double that amount of time before realizing that ship had been taking on more water than the Titanic and was long since sunk.

Remember, when Dvorak was first acquired, he, Anderson and the since-departed Jonathan Drouin were a “thing.” Granted, it wasn’t an especially successful thing, but there had been chemistry there. So, to effectively bypass Dvorak and go to Evans is like resigning yourself to neither Anderson finding his rhythm again nor to Dvorak being even a medium-term solution for the team (despite having another season under contract).

In defense of Anderson and Evans, the early returns were encouraging. However, Anderson’s been held pointless in the last four games and Evans’ goal against the Preds was unassisted. Ultimately, they lack finish. As a unit the trio has really only connected for a single goal since it first struck gold in the third period against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 2. Anderson, who briefly had admittedly lined up with Dvorak on paper for that game, impressively assisted on a late Gustav Lindstrom game-tying goal (Evans getting the second assist).

However, there are reasons Lindstrom didn’t play against the Preds or Pittsburgh Penguins in the team’s most recent game. For instance, he hadn’t produced a point since that goal, a span of three scoreless games. It’s almost as if, if you don’t produce, you shouldn’t continually be given ice time. Also? A returning David Savard. There were simply better options available. Granted injuries and all that… but Dvorak is literally a better offensive option than Evans and he’s like right there (and presumably healthy).

Reunite Anderson and Dvorak

There’s no denying Dvorak has hit a slump himself. He admittedly had a goal taken back since his return in November. However, he’s only got one goal and four assists in 19 games this season. Even if you add that goal to his total because you’re feeling charitable (‘tis the season), it still wouldn’t be impressive. Why not pair him with Anderson (for an extended period of time) to see if there’s something there? It might benefit them both.

Beyond that, Monahan on Evans’ wing is doing a disservice both to the former and the team’s prospects in terms of a projected return for him at the trade deadline. By now, with Monahan having cooled off from a strong start to the season, any more talk of the Canadiens re-signing the pending unrestricted free agent should be considered sufficiently foolhardy if it hasn’t completely died down. Sporting a 56.9% faceoff percentage, he should be deployed as a center, which is where he found success with the Habs last season — and arguably his most offensive success this one.

St. Louis logically has his reasons for putting the lineup together the way he has. However, there comes a point when questions must be asked, because it’s not like all his lineup moves have worked. This is one instance where, whether it’s Dvorak or Monahan centering the second line, the obvious choice is actually the easy one to make… not to mention potentially the right one.