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In Hainsight: What to Expect from Jake Evans |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
After Kent Hughes decided to sign Sean Monahan to a new contract and acquire Alex Newhook via trade, the Canadiens’ center line is suddenly very crowded, especially considering that the organization sees Kirby Dach as a center in the long run. In other words, Suzuki, Dach, Monahan, Newhook, Dvorak and Evans are all centers. Until Dvorak is healthy, Suzuki, Dach and Monahan could very well be the team’s first three centers while Newhook gets acclimated to a new team and a new system, leaving the fourth line centering duty to Jake Evans.
While Evans had a bit of a scoring touch when he played in Notre Dame, he learnt to be useful in other ways with the Rocket in the AHL in order to find his way to the NHL. He now has three full season of NHL hockey under his belt and if he could stay away from injuries, he could be the ideal fourth liner for the Canadiens. The 27-year-old has a concussion history (who doesn’t remember that Scheifele hit in the 2021 playoffs) and last year, he missed 10 weeks with a knee injury.
Once Christian Dvorak is fully health, he should slot back into the line-up as the third pivot, meaning that whoever was assuming third line center duties (be it Monahan or Newhook) should get a bump up in the Habs’ top six. Meanwhile, it should be business as usual for Evans. Even though he’s on the team’s bottom line, his average time on ice should still be around 14 or 15 minutes thanks to his role on the penalty kill.
Now that the team has moved Mike Hoffman, Evans should find himself playing next to enigmatic vet Joel Armia and whoever else draws the short straw amongst forwards. There’s a real possibility that Raphael Harvey-Pinard lands there since the injured players from last season will be back, which wouldn’t be a bad thing for Evans since RHP does have a scoring touch. However, there’s no way Harvey-Pinard can keep his shooting percentage as high as it was last season (24.14%), but still, if they manage to get some chemistry going, they could contribute offensively. Even more so if Joel Armia gets injured as usual and Michael Pezzetta gets to come in like a man on a mission, which he would be really, trying to secure a roster spot for himself.
Last season, Evans took part in 54 games and gathered 19 points in the process. If lady luck is on his side this year and that’s a big if, he should be able to set a new career best in points (29 was his best effort playing 72 games in 2021-2022) especially if he gets some stability on his wing. Whatever happens though, you can expect Evans to be worth every penny of his $1.7 million AAV, he’s as dedicated as they come and will do whatever is asked of him in any situation.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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