Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

A slight bobble over the blue line downgraded the chance from a breakaway to a three-on-three look, but that made what happened next even more impressive.

After pulling up along the wall, Coyotes center Christian Dvorak cut to the middle, dragged the puck by a defender and off his skate before wiring the puck through traffic and by Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.

It was one of the team’s prettier goals of the season, if not the best exhibition of skill in the offensive zone.

And Dvorak didn’t even crack a smile when he was surrounded by teammates in the March 31 win over Washington, wearing a stoic stare as he was congratulated.

“He scored one of the nicer goals you’ll see in the NHL and couldn’t even tell,” captain Shane Doan said. “Maybe on the inside he’s dancing around, but not on the outside. He’s just so composed.”

While Dvorak may not have commemorated each highlight of his rookie season with raised hands, toothy grins or jumps into the boards, he gave the Coyotes plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Dvorak led all first-year players in goals with 15, which ranked third on the team, and paced the pack in points (33) while boasting the second-most faceoffs wins in the league among rookies (471). His faceoff-win total is also tops among all rookies in team history since the franchise relocated to the Valley in 1996.

But perhaps most importantly, Dvorak provided hope at a critical position that has been a work-in-progress for years. He emerged as an NHLer amid a breakout season that flipped his status from prized prospect to core cog – a must-have transformation during a rebuild.

“I love that guy,” Doan said. “I think he’s going to be somebody that you could put a lot of pieces around, a guy that if he’s one of your centermen, you have a chance to win. That’s exciting.”

This change didn’t happen immediately but rather in time so that when the Coyotes wrapped their season last Saturday, Dvorak’s development through 78 games resembled a staircase with his best play coming after he banked experience.

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Transitioning to the pro game was the next step for the 21-year-old, who maximized his time in junior by winning a Memorial Cup a year ago with the London Knights, and while that’s solid preparation, the NHL still tends to require a feeling-out period. Dvorak, drafted in the second round 58th overall in 2014, had to learn to cut his shifts shorter. He also used a defense-first base to eventually stoke his comfort level in the offensive zone.

“As time went on, you saw his confidence increase,” said Craig Button, TSN’s Director of Scouting and a former general manager of the Calgary Flames. “You saw his production increase. You saw him expand his game and, trust me, that’s just a sign of things to come. He is a real, real promising young player.”

The caliber of goals Dvorak scored exemplified his growth.

He added another in that game against the Capitals, a blistering wrist shot that completely fooled Holtby – a likely candidate for the Vezina Trophy this season as the league’s top goaltender. Some of the game’s other premier netminders, such as Chicago’s Corey Crawford and Montreal’s Carey Price, were also handcuffed by the shot.

“He kind of slings it,” Doan said. “I don’t know how he does it.”

What encourages Dvorak the most, though, isn’t the progress he made around the net. It’s the work he puts in that leads up to the shot.

“I always pride myself on being good in the ‘D’ zone,” he said. “I think I did a solid job of that this year, and you always want to be better with that. Also, faceoffs. A bit of a struggle early to get used to everyone. Obviously, there are a lot stronger players here. So definitely got used to them and got better with that. So that was improvement.”

And that might be Dvorak’s most appealing quality: He doesn’t have only one strength.

In just his first season, he showcased a goal-scorer’s touch, defensive awareness and faceoff proficiency – a skill set that led to more responsibility in every situation as he earned extra minutes on the power play and penalty kill.

“Christian Dvorak has the ability to be an outstanding two-way center in the National Hockey League,” Button said.

Not only is that exactly what the Coyotes want, especially after center Martin Hanzal’s departure via trade, but the graduation from pick to player is what they need to have a chance to complete their rebuild.

It’ll be incumbent upon Dvorak to keep making an impact but based on his debut, he certainly has the tools to remain a bridge to a more successful future for the Coyotes.

“It was a good starting point,” he said. “I always want to keep getting better, though. I can’t be happy with just having a solid year. I want to keep getting better, so that will be the main goal.”

Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.