Sign Jake Evans long term (and big money) or not?
That’s the 1000 question piasses which Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have to answer over the coming months. This season, Evans has reached another level, having 10 goals and 23 points in 37 games while becoming an essential part of the club’s success, especially on the penalty kill.
The question is whether Evans has truly become that player or whether he is playing in over his head at the moment. And on this, your opinion is as good as mine.
In short, while everyone has their opinion on the 1000 dollar questionBrian Wilde took advantage of his time at Sick Podcast by Tony Marinaro to talk a little about the subject… and he brought up a very interesting point: we greatly underestimate the impact of the end of Kirby Dach’s season on the decision.
Because in fact, Dach’s performance between now and the end of the campaign changes a lot of things.
Basically, Wilde explains that if Dach demonstrates by the end of the year that he is capable of once again becoming the second center hoped for by the CH, that means that it then becomes more logical to sign Evans. Indeed, the question of the second center would then be resolved, so that the club can afford to invest resources in the third center chair.
And, to complete his center line, graduate Owen Beck to the fourth line.
That said, if Dach continues to struggle between now and the end of the year, the club will instead have to invest resources to fill the second center role. In that world, Dach would be in the third center chair… and with Beck pushing, signing Evans at a big price wouldn’t make sense.
I’m one of those who doesn’t really see the point in trading Evans at the deadline, even at top dollar. Unless the channel completely lands by the deadline et Unless Evans’ salary demands are outrageous ($5 million per year, for example), the club is no longer at the stage where it needs to sell all its players for draft picks.
There are already so many prospects within the organization and the CH still has a ton of choices in the years to come. Going to draft another Filip Mesar or another Alex Newhook (via trade), it’s not as important as keeping guys who give you good hockey.
In a world where Dach plays big hockey between now and the end of the year and he demonstrates that he is still the team’s potential 2nd center of the future, I would have no problem seeing the CH give Evans a big contract. He is a real weapon on the penalty kill, he is loved in the locker room and we are currently discovering offensive potential in him.
I’m not saying that he is the new Artturi Lehkonen… but does the CH really want to take this risk to find another Justin Barron?
In burst
– Speaking of the wolf.
– Ivan Demidov has good preparation, says his coach.
– Interesting. Are they here to see Cayden Primeau?
– Nice catch for the Dodgers.
