Jake Evans really did want to stay in Montreal.
The Canadiens’ 28-year-old centre had a chance to test the market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and cash in on what will be a career year for him. Heading into Thursday’s game against the Oilers in Edmonton (9 p.m., TSN2, RDS), Evans has 12-16-28 totals in 61 games. The most productive season of his six-year NHL career came in 2021-22, when Evans finished with 13-16-29 totals, setting career highs for goals and points.
Evans could have probably doubled his current salary of US$1.7 million as a free agent, but instead decided to sign a four-year contract extension with the Canadiens on Tuesday that kicks in next season and will pay him an average of US$2.85 million through 2028-29.
The Canadiens and Evans had been far apart in contract talks and it was looking like he would be dealt to another team before Friday’s 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline. But TSN and RDS Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that after almost two weeks of no contract talks, Evans told his agent, Brian MacDonald, that he definitely wanted to stay in Montreal. Talks resumed on Sunday with Canadiens GM Kent Hughes and a new contract was agreed upon shortly before Evans and his teammates flew to Edmonton on Tuesday afternoon.
“So excited for the next four years and so happy that I get to stay here,” Evans said on a video the Canadiens posted on X shortly before the team’s charter flight took off from the Montreal Metropolitan Airport in St-Hubert.
This is a deal that works very well for both sides.
While Evans will end up having a career season, his offensive production has dropped off dramatically. Going back to New Year’s Eve, Evans has 2-3-5 totals in the last 25 games. He had scored goals in each of the previous five games before that.
That doesn’t mean Evans isn’t a very important player on this team. He’s a big reason why the Canadiens rank fifth in the NHL in penalty-killing with an 82.3 per cent success rate. Evans is also winning 52.8 per cent of his faceoffs. But, at the end of the day, Evans is a fourth-line centre who kills penalties — very well — and a US$2.85 million salary seems very fair to both sides.
The total value of the new contract is US$11.4 million and that provides security for Evans and his wife, which is something he was looking for. The couple also loves living in Montreal and teammate Brendan Gallagher is one of Evans’s best friends, who usually drives him to practices in Brossard.
With Evans now signed, Hughes can focus his attention on the team’s three other key players who can become unrestricted free agents on July 1: forwards Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak, along with defenceman David Savard. Armia, 31, will have the most value on the trade market, but he’s also a key part of what has become a fantastic fourth line with Evans and Emil Heineman and is Evans’s partner on the penalty-kill. Head coach Martin St. Louis usually uses his fourth line to start games, since he trusts them defensively and they can set the tone.
Hughes won’t give Armia away, since he already has seven picks in the first three rounds of this year’s NHL Draft (including two first-rounders and two second-rounders) and four picks in the first three rounds in 2026 (including two second-rounders). The same probably applies to Dvorak, 29, and Savard, 34, with the Canadiens only one point out of a wild-card playoff spot heading into Wednesday’s slate of games.
If the Canadiens end up losing Armia, Dvorak and Savard as free agents, it would free up US$11.35 million in total salary-cap space. So it’s not like Hughes would get nothing in return for them if he does not trade them.
Heineman, who can become a restricted free agent on July 1, hopes the Canadiens keep Armia.
“He’s been great to me, especially coming in here as a European,” Heineman said. “There wasn’t a lot of Swedes here when I got here at first. So he came up to me and he knows a little bit of Swedish so he just started speaking that to me for a while and I was like: Wow! We’ve been really close ever since that. He’s meant a lot to me coming into the league on and off the ice, especially.
“He combines smartness with the raw strength that he has out there,” Heineman added. “He’s real smart. His puck protection out there is really impressive and you add that skill he has I think that he’s a really complete player that you can use anywhere.”
Rookie defenceman Lane Hutson is hoping the Canadiens keep Savard.
“Since Day 1, he’s really helped me coming in,” Hutson said. “At the end of last year, my first two games he made me feel really welcome. He’s such a funny guy, great teammate. I’ve just learned so much from him. Hopefully we keep him around. It would be nice to have him.”
It wouldn’t be a shock now if Hughes stands pat at Friday’s trade deadline.