The list of players who saw NHL action last season and remain restricted free agents is down to just two. That number is soon set to be cut in half. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that the Predators and Luke Evangelista are making progress tonight on a contract; TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (Twitter link) that an agreement is expected to be reached soon while Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic indicates (Twitter link) that it should be a two-year deal worth $3MM per season.
The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by Nashville back in 2020, going 42nd overall. Evangelista spent a good chunk of his first full professional season in the minors back in 2022-23. However, following a 24-game stint that season that saw him record 15 points in a late-season recall, he has been a full-time player with the Predators ever since.
Evangelista’s first full NHL campaign saw him pick up 16 goals and 23 assists in 80 games despite averaging less than 14 minutes a night of playing time. That earned him some down-ballot support in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year as he finished ninth in balloting that season. He was limited to just one goal in the playoffs that season but expectations were high that Nashville had a legitimate middle-six contributor that could be relied upon.
Last season, Evangelista had 10 goals and 22 helpers in 68 games, producing at pretty much the same clip as the year before. While it would be fair to say they were hoping he’d take a step forward offensively, staying at almost the exact same point-per-game rate was notable in a season that saw a lot of Predators underwhelm offensively as an early-season speculative contender wound up missing the playoffs altogether and not by a small margin.
Considering that he had two seasons of similar production under his belt, Evangelista was a safe bet to land a bridge deal; a long-term pact likely wouldn’t have been feasible for either side. That makes the fact that it has taken this long to get a deal done rather puzzling. While it’s believed that the two sides briefly explored a three-year agreement, those talks didn’t last long given the gap in expected salary, putting the sides back to a two-year agreement. Clearly, both sides were pretty dug in with what they thought was fair in terms of money and only the threat of the season starting early next week with him still unsigned was enough to get this across the finish line.
Evangelista will once again be a restricted free agent in the 2027 offseason. However, there will be one big difference next time, that being his arbitration eligibility. As long as one of the two sides files for a hearing, the case will be resolved sometime in August that summer, preventing things from getting to this point next time.