Montreal Canadiens: Jake Evans Made Good First Impression With Habs

The Montreal Canadiens sent Jake Evans back down to the Laval Rocket. However, he did enough during his first NHL stint to show he will be back again in the future.

The Montreal Canadiens are finally starting to get healthy. Jonathan Drouin was back on a regular line at practice after missing time with a lower body injury. Paul Byron is inching closer to finally returning after missing three months and Brendan Gallagher and Shea Weber are close to returning as well.

It would make the Habs a fully healthy team for the first time since the middle of November if all of them return tonight. Obviously that’s great for the team, getting everyone back on the ice, but it does mean a few players that have been called up from the Laval Rocket no longer have a spot on the roster.

Jake Evans and Christian Folin were sent down to the Rocket yesterday afternoon. Folin is a depth defender who is a free agent at season’s end and could have already played his last game in a Canadiens sweater. Evans however, played well enough to ensure he will be back with the Montreal Canadiens before too long.

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Evans was drafted by the Canadiens back in 2014 in the 7th round of the NHL Draft. He played four years of college hockey at Notre Dame where he increased his points per game every year. He scored 42 points in 40 games in his third season with Notre Dame and upped that to 46 points in 40 games during his final college campaign.

Evans then signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens. He played the 2018-19 season with the struggling Laval Rocket and was one of the few bright spots in the lineup on a nightly basis. Evans brought his tenacious two-way play and quickly earned a prominent role for the Rocket.

The Toronto native scored 13 goals and 45 points in 67 games during his rookie pro season and finished second on the Rocket in scoring. This year, the Rocket are struggling once again but Evans has played well after starting the year slowly. The 23 year old forward had just four points in his first 17 games of the season, but scored 30 in his next 31 AHL games.

The lengthy scoring streak earned Evans his first call up to the National Hockey League earlier this month. He made his NHL debut against the Anaheim Ducks on February 6th and played sparingly in six games since then. Though he didn’t light up the scoreboard, he did register his first NHL goal against the Arizona Coyotes and looked like he belonged in a bottom six role.

Evans is a persistent forechecker who takes care of business in his own zone and can add some offense as shown by his point per game run over 30 games at the AHL level. Still in his second pro season, he has a lot to learn like any player would, but he showed during his short NHL stint that he was not in over his head at the highest level.

We will be seeing Evans back with the Canadiens in the future. With the trade deadline coming up on Monday, I could see Evans skating as the team’s fourth line center as early as next week if Nate Thompson is traded for a draft pick.

We may not see Evans back quite that soon as the organization may decide to let him develop for the rest of the year with the Laval Rocket. One thing is for sure, Jake Evans has a future with the Montreal Canadiens.