NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens Will Likely Trade Jake Evans

Vancouver Canucks: Vancouver Canucks Have a Tough Decision to Make with Brock Boeser

Montreal Canadiens: NHL Rumors: Jake Evans and Other Montreal Canadiens Players Drawing Interest

Montreal Canadiens: NHL Rumors: Could the Montreal Canadiens Be Making a Trade

Is Jake Evans on the Move from Montreal?

During Tuesday’s early edition of Insider Trading, LeBrun reiterated that the two sides were far apart. The Canadiens seem to be leaning more towards trading Jake Evans than keeping him.

Yeah, I checked on it today, and what I was told is that its status quo. Neither side has moved. There has not been any progress since then, so they are exactly where they were a couple of weeks ago, just before the Four Nations Break, which, again, just leads to more speculation that the Habs will end up moving Jake Evans, who is a pending UFA before the March 7th trade deadline. But as of right now, all signs point towards a trade, and I know that the Habs have talked to teams here over the last few days on that front. – Full Press Hockey Transcriptions

As previously mentioned, the Canadiens already have a ton of draft capital. It seems like Hughes and Gorton have been weighing their options throughout the process. Get a reason to return, an asset they can flip later on to add to their team, or just keep and let him walk for nothing. It does not sound like they want to give him away for free. So, if they do move Evans, it will not be less than a second-round pick as LeBrun continued.

So I don’t think they’re interested in getting a third-round pick or a fourth-round pick for Jake Evans. That doesn’t move the needle for them. So teams have been told, don’t waste your time. I mean, he makes $1.7 million on the cap, which is really attractive to contenders who don’t have a lot of cap space. I think the low bar, I think the threshold is a second round pick at worst for Montreal on a Jake Evans deal. So teams have to step up.

Could the Canadiens Trade Both Armia and Evans?

As Full Press Hockey has documented, the Montreal Canadiens have one of the best penalty-killing units in the NHL. As David Calabretta states, there is a good chance teams could go after both Joel Armia and Jake Evans.

“Teams could approach the Habs for Evans and Armia,” Calabretta said. “That would be a great haul for Montreal. Right, but maybe teams could be interested in that. They’ve been, and I’m not going to really give them that Glory, but they’ve been probably the top three best power penalty kill duos this season.”

If each player’s return is low, why not package them together and see what the return could be? It would be a massive haul, and maybe they can get NHL-ready players in return. And if Evans isn’t signed before March 7th, it makes the most sense. Even LeBrun, during his hit, backed up the idea of the Canadiens packaging Armia and Evans together, and it could be something to watch moving forward.

Here’s the other thing and I think it’s absolutely legitimate. Could the Habs package Joel Armia and Jake Evans, the two penalty-killing buddies who are both pending UFAs? Could they package them together to augment their trade return? And that is something that I believe the Habs have given some thought to. And so let’s keep an eye on that because that could be something different if both guys get dealt in the same deal. So, food for thought. But as it stands right now, it doesn’t look like Jake Evans will finish the year in Montreal.

The Montreal Canadiens have several players that teams will want. With about nine days until the trade deadline, the Canadiens are a team to watch to see which players get moved and what the returns will be.