BURSTMONTREAL— Two goals, two assists and a plus-five rating.
That was Jake Evans’ week as a driving force in the Montreal Canadiens’ first three-game winning streak of the season.
It was also just an extension of what we’ve seen from Evans since the puck dropped in October.
Of course, it’s no coincidence that he’s playing the best hockey of his career at 28, with 301 NHL games now under his belt and his role finally mastered.
Considering that, you’d think Evans’ phone might have rung by now, with his current contract set to expire at the end of June and his value to the Canadiens so patently obvious to anyone watching.
But…
“Still crickets,” Evans said after his second-star performance Saturday helped the Canadiens knock off the Detroit Red Wings for the second time in as many nights.
We don’t think he should be sweating it.
Sure, the Canadiens are happy Oliver Kapanen is moulding himself into a capable right-handed centre overseas after getting his first taste in the NHL this past fall. And they must be thrilled Owen Beck is in the wings, soaring quickly through his first pro season in Laval.
Scouts say the 20-year-old, who has seven goals, 21 points and a plus-10 rating through 27 games, is as detailed as they come for a player his age. “He got pro habits all over the ice,” one told us last week and it reminded us of what we used to hear about Evans when he was plying his trade in the AHL.
But the NHL is an astronomical leap from the AHL—one typically taken over years before it all clicks into place—and surely the Canadiens know that as well as Evans does.
He didn’t hop into the NHL at 23 and immediately show himself to be an ideal fourth-line centre for the Canadiens. It’s been a steady build since he arrived during the 2019-20 season, and he says the blocks only fully felt cemented at the beginning of last year.
“You start to understand your role and where you’re going to fit in and where you’re going to bring value to a team,” Evans said after Saturday’s 5-1 win. “Sometimes it takes guys half a season, but for me, moving up and down the lineup, you don’t really know what kind of player you’re supposed to be, and now I feel like I’ve finally found it.”
It can’t be something the Canadiens would want to lose, even with Kapanen and Beck arriving imminently.
Granted, Evans has seven goals and 19 points in 33 games, he’s on pace to shatter his career highs in both categories, he’s playing 19 more seconds per game shorthanded than any other forward in the NHL, he’s stalwart defensively at five-on-five, and he’s upping his market value by the second.
We don’t think that’s necessarily problematic for the Canadiens, but it’s hard to consider it ideal for them when they’ve got $6.5 million committed to Brendan Gallagher and $5.5 million to be bottom-six players for them through two more seasons beyond this one.
But those two, who combined on the last goal the Canadiens scored Saturday, have been part of a group of good veterans currently driving the young core of the team through its most important developmental phase.
“What they’re doing is so contagious,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “They’re bringing everybody along, and it hasn’t been like one night here or one night there. It’s been very consistent—their engagement, their effort, the purpose they play with on the ice. It’s helping the younger guys to see that.”
It’s also keeping those younger guys insulated, which is fundamental to a team being able to transition from rebuilding to winning in the amount of time it’s supposed to take.
Without the right veterans in place, you get what you see in Buffalo, where the Sabres are spiralling down the drain once again and all but guaranteeing themselves a 14th straight playoff miss.
The Canadiens, who are only in Year 3 of their rebuild, feel they have the right ones. Justifiably.
St. Louis was vaunting their engagement after Saturday’s game, calling their inclusion on the roster “huge.”
His bosses surely see the value of their presence, otherwise they’d have not snagged yet another one of their kind earlier this week.
They traded for 28-year-old Alex Carrier on Wednesday. He makes $3.75 million per season over the next two after this one, but they see that as well worth the price for what he brings to help stabilize their back end.
It’s already paying off, with Carrier immediately serving as one of three veterans insulating young defencemen Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj. He even added a cherry on top, scoring his first point in a Canadiens uniform Saturday.
Evans’ goal was his 111th point in bleu, blanc et rouge, and that’s just gravy on top of the meat and potatoes he brings every night.
“Jake brings a sense of calm to the ice,” said St. Louis. “When he’s on the ice against the other teams’ best lines, or he’s on the penalty kill, you know he’s always going to do the job. He’ll get a bad bounce once in a while, like everyone else, but he’s always there to do the job.”
The Canadiens should want Evans there to continue doing it for at least a few more years.
Today’s NHL may be filled with opportunity for young players, but Evans’ role is best filled by a veteran—and not just on an emerging team, but also on one that’s hoping to become a perennial contender.
As St. Louis said before Saturday’s game, “I think it’s hard for a young player to come in and be a penalty killer right away, taking important D-zone faceoffs.”
“I think that kind of role that he has right now, you kind of build that up over time,” he added. “He’s done that, and he’s kind of added an offensive side to his game on top of the role he’s been really counted on for.”
It’s been there since the start of the season, and it played a big role in Montreal finally stringing wins together.
That should lead the Canadiens to start speaking with Evans about his future in short order, because his value to them is undeniable and their window to exclusively negotiate with him won’t be open much longer.
