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Christian Dvorak, Philadelphia Flyers (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Flyers’ Christian Dvorak Extension Shows Contrast From Contenders

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Justin Giampietro | Last updated Jan 18, 2026 9:45 AM ET

On Jan. 5, 2026, the Philadelphia Flyers extended center Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75 million contract. He’ll be 30 years old in February, so the deal was a head-scratcher for some fans—regression could come fast and hard.

But the justification was sound enough. The team’s 21–12–7 record was among the best in the league, and the free-agent market isn’t exactly stacked down the middle. Plus, Dvorak is on pace for career highs.

That justification, though, has vanished in a flash. The Flyers followed the extension with a 5–2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, but have since dropped six in a row. Five of them were in regulation.

Now, the Flyers are on the outside looking in for the playoffs, and prediction models no longer like their odds. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

Whether the Flyers were right to extend Dvorak with five and a half months left to negotiate, the losing streak does change the perspective a bit. They’re not in the playoffs anymore.

This could have been avoided if the Flyers had taken notes from the team with the second-best points percentage in the NHL. What have the Tampa Bay Lightning been up to?

Lightning Have a Different Approach

Just days after the Dvorak contract, it was reported by The Hockey News‘ Diandra Loux that the Lightning were going in the opposite direction with one of their key players. Take a look at general manager Julien BriesBois’ statement below:

Julien BriseBois said the #GoBolts are going to wait on an extension for Raddysh.

“I think we're going to wait, not because it's going to be a life changing contract, but because you look at his play the first year with us, his play last year, his play at the start of season &…
— Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) January 8, 2026

Darren Raddysh is having an otherworldly season for the Lightning. He’s tied for fifth in defensive point-scoring, with 12 goals and 29 assists in 40 games. The undrafted 29-year-old is on pace to shatter his career highs, and he’s doing it while positively impacting both ends of the ice.

Many teams, especially if they were as good as Tampa Bay, would extend a player like this immediately. Sure, Raddysh is having an outlier campaign, but he ranks fifth in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) among defenseman, per Hockey Stats—that’s Norris Trophy-caliber.

Instead of getting antsy, the Lightning are taking it slow. They’re letting his season play out instead of banking tens of millions of dollars on this 40-game sample size being legit.

Flyers Need to Be More Careful Moving Forward

Okay, so this isn’t a one-for-one comparison. With the way he’s playing, Raddysh could demand twice as much as Dvorak got. That makes the Flyers’ decision less consequential.

In my breakdown piece for the Dvorak contract, I outlined that the worst-case scenario probably isn’t a big deal. You can probably offload his salary for a draft pick, and if not, a buyout works.

Christian Dvorak, Philadelphia Flyers (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

But the principle here is important. One team, and a contender at that, is being cautious, while the other has thrown caution to the wind. It may or may not be a coincidence that the team being cautious has a lot more success this millennium.

When it comes to long-term deals, it’d be nice to see the Flyers be more careful. In a salary-cap world, enough regrettable contracts can hurt your chances of hoisting Lord Stanley. General manager Daniel Brière and his staff may want to take inspiration from a Cup-winning regime in the future.