The Montreal Canadiens have announced the signing of forward Jake Evans to a two-year entry level contract starting for the 2018-19 season.
Les Canadiens s’entendent sur les modalités d’un contrat d’entrée de deux ans (2018-2019 et 2019-2020) avec l’attaquant Jake Evans.
DÉTAILS-> https://t.co/um7LZi4nCE #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 9, 2018
The Canadiens drafted Evans in the seventh round of the 2014 entry draft, 207th overall. Since then the Toronto native spent four full seasons at the University of Notre Dame where he ended up as captain of the team in his senior year, leading the NCAA in scoring for a long stretch of the season and taking his team all the way to the finals of the NCAA Tournament.
Largely sitting below the radar in the fans’ eyes due to NCAA rules that didn’t allow him to participate in training camp or preseason games, Evans largely remained anonymous for a few seasons. However he raised his profile this season when he was selected to Team Canada for the Spengler Cup, in what was widely viewed as an audition for the Canadian Olympic team. During the Spengler Cup he put up no points in four games, but the international experience worried some that Evans would be more willing to test free agency rather than sign with the team that drafted him, as is his right.
This season he lead Notre Dame to the NCAA Tournament final, notably putting up three points in the semi-final game against the University of Michigan. His college career came to an end on Saturday losing in the finals to Minnesota Duluth, the same night that the Canadiens season ended. Evans had an assist on the lone Irish goal.
