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About The Jake Evans Deal...

Multiple sources report that Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans was a highly sought-after asset on the trade market. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli even had him in fourth place on his list of 45 trade targets, but he acknowledged the dilemma Kent Hughes was facing.

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After beating the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night, the Canadiens find themselves only one point short of the playoffs. Hughes and Jeff Gorton said at the start of the year that they wanted their team to be “in the mix” this season, and that’s exactly where they are. What kind of message would he have sent to his players if, already being down a center – Kirby Dach’s season is over after knee surgery – he traded one that has played a pivotal part all season long?

On Monday morning, TSN's Darren Dreger also reported that despite serious trade interest in Evans, the Canadiens were still having progressive talks with him and he was spot on. Early Monday afternoon, the team announced that Evans had been signed to a four-year deal worth a total of $11,400,000 with a $2.85 M cap hit.

It made sense for Kent Hughes to hang on to him, it's not that Evans is a top six player, but any serious contender also has solid depth players. You won't go far in the playoffs if you’re loading your team with four stars and only surround them with warm bodies.

The organization knows what Jake Evans can do. They know he can hold down the fort while the next crop of centers matures and gets ready to handle not only even-strength minutes but also special teams. Reaching an agreement with him sent a positive message to the team in place that the boss believes the rebuild is moving in the right direction and that it’s time to allow his core to learn how to win when it matters, in the playoffs, or at the very least in the playoffs race.

Evans’s presence does not guarantee a playoff spot, but trading him would have made it much harder for the Canadiens to reach that goal. Some will say that his departure wouldn’t have that much impact, but depth players can have an effect.

The Canadiens have won their last five games, coinciding with Emil Heineman’s return to the lineup. Not that he’s been filling up the net, but his presence allows Martin St-Louis to deploy his preferred lineup, which he feels has balanced and efficient lines.

Hughes negotiated with Evans’s representatives because he considered it more valuable for his young team to fight to get in the playoffs, even if they don’t ultimately make it, than to get some low-level draft picks would be.

Considering neither Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook have shown that they can be impact centers in the NHL so far, the Canadiens' center line is far from set. Dach's latest injury is just another setback and losing two established center would have been tough on the lineup. Hughes has already said he doesn't want a lineup filled with rookies last season because that would hinder his team's progression.

The Habs do have some interesting prospects coming up at centre, but it's too soon to know how ready they actually are for the big league. Oliver Kapanen looked very good during training camp and at the start of the preseason games, but once true NHL rosters started playing it was a different ball game. Owen Beck is currently patrolling the ice on the Canadiens' second line, but he's seeing very limited ice time. He skated for only 7:49 minutes on Monday. As for Michael Hage, while he's doing well in the NCAA, he still needs to bulk up and a sophomore year certainly won't hurt.

Four years might have been one more than what would have been ideal, but with such a low cap hit and an absence of no movement clause, if the organization feels the youngsters are ready to graduate, it will be able to move the veteran.

According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, ultimately it came down to Evans not wanting to leave Montreal and telling his agent a deal had to be reached. He hasn't been made available to the media yet but to me, that means you don't need to get a dog to get loyalty contrarily to what a former GM said. The players like what Hughes is building and they're signing up for it. Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky agreed to get less money than Suzuki, and now Evans agreed to less than he likely would have gotten in free agency. If you build it, they will come...

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