The Jake Evans discourse picked back up on Wednesday morning after he was the first star of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. Evans is due for a new contract in the offseason, and the fear for Montreal Canadiens fans is that his recent play could be playing him out of the Habs' future. However, Pierre McGuire's contract prediction for Evans would be a bargain if he is accurate.
Pierre McGuire believes it should not be hard negotiation for the #GoHabsGo to sign Jake Evans
— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) January 22, 2025
"I'd probably pay him between $2.75 and $3.75 million a year and I'd give him 6 to 7 years ... It's not a hard negotiation"#thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro @Lappy14 pic.twitter.com/cxxDaMYR3x
The salary cap is steadily increasing, and most expect it to take a massive jump next season. Locking in Evans at this $2.75 million to $3.75 million for six to seven years would be a win for the organization, and he is so much more than a fourth-line center, despite that placement on the depth chart. Evans is one of the team's best penalty killers, and chips in on offense when the team needs him, as we saw Tuesday night.
There are currently 11 centers in the league making between $2.75 and $3.75 million. Aliaksei Protas is the highest-scorer, with 39 points in 47 games. It looks the Washington Capitals got a steal with him, as his contract started this year and goes through the 2028-29 season.
Alex Newhook is another one of the centers, and it's safe to say that Evans is outperforming him in a limited role. However, we'll look at five centers around Evans' age.
Max Domi
Domi will make $3.75 million for the next four seasons after signing an extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is 29 and has 17 points in 40 games this season. He is the closest player on this list to Evans' point production, and it still isn't relatively close.
Nicolas Roy
Roy will make $3 million for another three seasons, and is another player struggling to record points this season. He has just 14 in 36, which isn't acceptable for a Vegas Golden Knights team that needed him to step-up after losing forwards in the offseason.
Yakov Trenin
Trenin is making $3.5 million in the first of a four-year deal, and jas just eight points in 42 games. He isn't known as a massive point producer, but the Minnesota Wild would like him to be contributing a little more.
Anthony Duclair
Duclair missed a large portion of this season for the New York Islanders, and would be the closest to Evans' production level and value to the Canadiens. He has seven points in 18 games, which makes his $3.5 million deal look like a fine value.
Dakota Joshua
Joshua is a difficult player to judge for the Vancouver Canucks. He is attempting to bounce back from a cancer fight in the offseason, which is why he has just four points in 24 games. We'll see how he progresses throughout the year, but it isn't fair to take shots at him already.
What does the list of approximately 28-year-old centers and their salaries tell you about the deal Jake Evans will receive in the offseason? It tells me that if Evans' camp accepts the parameters of McGuire's prediction then Kent Hughes and co. better run to the printer to get that contract signed.