The Montreal Canadiens would always be a better team if Jake Evans were in the bottom six. No one argued that point when his name was circulating in trade discussions for the upcoming deadline. However, the worry was that Evans was playing so well that he was pricing himself out of the range the Canadiens were able to spend, and in that case, it would've been much more beneficial to trade him and acquire a significant asset.
Kent Hughes' recent comments about not trading his UFAs just because they had expiring contracts were telling that this deadline might not be the same as the ones we've seen. It would've been easy for Hughes to sell off all the pending UFAs for picks and prospects, but the Canadiens benefit from plenty of upcoming top draft picks and a stocked prospect cupboard. Hughes would try to avoid trading some of his valuable pieces if he could work out a deal, and he got one done with Evans with just days to spare.
It's hard to undervalue the effect of a familiar place for Evans, and it looks like he was willing to take a small paycut from what he would've made elsewhere to stay in Montreal. Evans agreed to a four-year deal, which will pay him $2.85 million annually. It's also worth noting that there doesn't seem to be trade protection on the contract, but it's difficult to see the Canadiens trading Evans at that price.
Evans has been a key piece to the team's fourth line, although there may be a slight dropoff in that line's quality if they trade Joel Armia. However, Evans has been developing some chemistry with Emil Heineman, and the team will want to find someone younger to grow with those two players in the bottom six.
According to Pierre Lebrun on X, Evans' camp and the Canadiens had stepped back from the negotiating table but recently renewed talks. Montreal didn't budge on their initial offers earlier in the year, and Evans realized he'd rather stay in the comfort of Montreal than find a new home.
You also can't downplay the effect of this recent stretch on Evans' mindset. Montreal is a much nicer destination when the team is winning, and the players are beginning to get a feel of what that can be like. There's a good chance the Canadiens will be contenders within the four-year window of Evans' contract, and no one can blame him for wanting to stick around for that.