A Jake of all trades

MONTREAL - Sometimes in hockey, as in life, timing is everything—just ask Jake Evans about the night of Nov. 16, 2019.

That night wasn’t supposed to be his moment. Seventeen scoreless games into the season, Evans was meant to be a healthy scratch from the Laval Rocket’s lineup against the Bridgeport Islanders for a “mental reset,” he recalled.

Taking the game off didn’t mean taking the day off, however. That morning, knowing he wouldn’t be in uniform later in the evening, the Toronto native endured a bag skate: goal line, to blue line, to red line, and back. By the time he left the ice, he assumed his work was done for the day.

But plans changed. When the Canadiens recalled Charles Hudon, Evans was thrust back into the lineup. He didn’t play much, he remembers, but when his number was called late in the game—and with Bridgeport’s net empty—he seized his opportunity.

Recovering the puck in his own zone, Evans sent a backhand shot the length of the ice, and watched it sail some 175 feet into the Islanders’ empty net for his first goal of the season.

At center ice, he celebrated with his teammates and when he returned to the bench, he was enveloped in a hug from then head coach Joël Bouchard, that seemed to melt away the frustrations of his season.

The next 33 games? Thirty-three points. By the end of February, Evans was called up to the Canadiens, and he never looked back.

Carving out an NHL role isn’t just about making it there—it’s about finding a way to stay, and Evans quickly discovered his niche. Like all forwards, he wanted to score goals, and he wanted to produce offense, but his real value came at the other end of the ice. He not only accepted that reality but embraced it.

“I think everyone playing in the NHL needs to find a spot. I kind of got put into a spot and started to embrace it,” said Evans of his role as a shutdown centerman. “I weirdly like taking faceoffs and penalty killing. You don't want the team to be on the penalty kill, but I do enjoy killing penalties and taking big draws at the end of the game.”

Since the start of last season, Evans has logged the most shorthanded time on ice among all NHL forwards, while maintaining a 50.8% win rate in the faceoff circle—a hair above his personal target for each game.

“It's not about looking if I scored a goal,” Evans explained of his approach to a job well done. “It's about whether I created chances and kept teams away from our net. And for me, faceoffs are a big thing. I want to be over 50% every game.”

Evans credits his maturity and defense-first mindset to the two seasons he spent playing behind Phillip Danault. While it might not sound like a long time—and in the grand scheme, it wasn’t—Danault’s influence had a profound impact on Evans as a developing player.

“He was always good on faceoffs and always smart defensively. He was put in a lot of tough spots, but still looked solid out there and always helped the team,” Evans spoke of Danault.

If you ask the product of Notre Dame, he’ll tell you that’s the biggest lesson he’s learned about what it takes to be an effective player in the NHL: consistency.

“It’s a long season, and there's going to be ups and downs,” Evans explained. “But it’s about always finding a way to help out the team, even if you're not feeling your best. Having that consistency, not going through too big of slumps or having those bad games where you're not even helping the team but hurting it, [are key.] You just got to find a way to chip away and find little things that can help,” he added.

Right now, the 28-year-old is doing exactly that—and then some. Past the quarter-mark of the season, Evans has been the Canadiens’ anchor in rough seas and the engine that never seems to stall. With 14 points in 26 games, the six-year Hab is on pace for a career high in that department.

“I feel like every season you hit spots where you feel really confident. This season has felt a little different,” Evans admitted, “where even when I’m not feeling physically at my best, I still feel okay out there because I know the League and I understand it more.”

“It takes a few years to really hit your stride, to know what you're good at, and know which plays to stay away from. I feel confident out there now.”

In the National Football League, the title ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ is reserved for the final pick of the draft, often seen as a long shot to make an impact. At the 2014 NHL Draft, Evans came dangerously close to earning hockey’s equivalent of the title, only to prove his late-round selection became anything but irrelevant.

“When you get to a certain age, the League doesn’t care what round you were drafted,” Martin St-Louis told reporters this season. “Can you play?” he asked rhetorically. “If you can play, you’re going to play in this League, whether you’re a first rounder or not—because eventually the League doesn’t care if you were a first rounder.”

And if one thing’s for certain, the Canadiens head coach doesn’t either. In fact, St-Louis admitted he had no idea Evans was a seventh-round pick, and if you’ve watched him play this season, you wouldn’t think he was either.

“Jake knows what he is,” said St-Louis. “Since training camp, he’s showing he’s developed as a player, and he’s earned an opportunity.”

Evans knows the importance of capitalizing on opportunities. After all, the turning point in his career was an empty-net goal scored from 175 feet away in a game he wasn’t even supposed to dress for. Five years later, Evans continues to make the most of his opportunity and prove that he is one of the most underrated players in the NHL.