There’s an important distinction that must be made, as far as the Montreal Canadiens are concerned. They may owe their recent victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to Jake Evans, who scored the game-winning goal, in late dramatic fashion. They don’t owe him a new contract.
Now, there’s little disputing Evans has put together a career season up to now. Through 48 games, he has 11 goals and 25 points, when, back in 2021-22, he scored highs of 13 and 29 in 72 games. So, there’s a very good chance he smashes both figures in short order. However, it’s also worth noting he’s scored those 11 goals on 22.4% of his shots, when his career shooting percentage is 10.1%, meaning, he’s likely due to be scoring less and less. And that’s in fact what’s been happening over the last little while.
Evans Simply Not a Scorer
Evans also tallied an assist in the previous game, another impressive come-from-behind victory over the New York Rangers. Those were his first points since Dec. 29, when he last scored, coincidentally also against the Lightning. To his credit, that marked the end of a stretch during which he had scored in five straight games. However, between the Lightning games, a span of 10 goalless contests, Evans took 13 shots.
Taking into account the two he took and the goal he scored on Jan. 21 vs. the Bolts, his S% stood at 29.4%. So, there’s been a course correction of some kind taking place, because, Evans, as impressive as he’s been, simply isn’t the scorer some have built him up to be.
The latest incident took place ahead of the Canadiens’ latest game, a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. That’s neither here nor there, but what was almost just as disappointing was hearing RDS analyst (and ex-NHLer) Denis Gauthier compare Evans to Phillip Danault, who obviously left the Habs to sign with the Los Angeles Kings following their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. Gauthier argued the Habs don’t want a repeat of that mistake and that they should re-sign the former.
Related: Evans at Risk of Pricing Himself Out of Canadiens’ Long-Term Plans
Danault had reportedly turned down a six-year, $30 million deal offered by the Canadiens to sign with the Kings for six years and $33 million, a difference of $500,000 per season (from ‘Kings sign Phillip Danault to six-year, US$33-million contract,’ Montreal Gazette,…
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