Habs, Evans agree to four-year, $11.4M extension
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The Montreal Canadiens and forward Jake Evans have reached a four-year, $11.4 million extension, the team announced on Tuesday.
This takes him off the trade market leading up to Friday's deadline and pays him $2.85 million per season on the new deal.
According to LeBrun, the team and Evans' camp renewed talks Sunday after an extended period. "I think Montreal stuck pretty well to its position more or less. So Evans, in the end, made the call he didn't want to leave," LeBrun wrote Tuesday in a post on X.
LeBrun reported over the weekend that the Habs were getting calls on the 28-year-old forward, who is in the final year of a three-year, $5.1 million deal that pays him $1.7 million annually. LeBrun also noted Sunday before Tuesday's extension that Montreal's post 4 Nations Face-Off resurgence could also be a factor in general manager Kent Hughes' decision to hold onto to or trade Evans. The Habs enter play Tuesday at 30-26-5 for 65 points, just one point back of the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot. They picked up a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres Monday night.
“It’s not gonna be easy, but we believe in here. It’s definitely (possible). What are we, one point back?” forward Brendan Gallagher said after the win. “We play good hockey, we take care of our own business, we believe that at the end of the year we’ll be where we want to be.”
A seventh-round pick in 2014, Evans is in his sixth season with the Canadiens after originally debuting with the team during the 2019-20 season. He has 39 goals and 81 assists for 120 points in 329 career regular season NHL games.