The panel discusses what the Montreal Canadiens should do with Jake Evans. Jake Evans is a UFA after this season. Now, with the Four Nations event about to begin, this gives the player and the Montreal Canadiens 13 days of negotiating during this break in the NHL season. According to Pierre LeBrun, not much has happened regarding an extension, and it doesn't look good currently but that could change. Since I last wrote about the Canadiens pivot, the team has been losing and there's no chance they will turn it around to make a push to the playoffs. That's why teams are calling because they are reading the tea leaves and that increases the likelihood of a trade happening rather than a new contract. My thinking hasn't changed. This has to be more about term than actual dollars. Term is the killer. Term is what makes a cap unmanageable over time. Evans salary can only go so high but the term can be something where he doesn't match the team's vision of what he needs to provide them. As I said before, three years is all I would offer and I have a feeling he is looking for 4-5. If the team felt he was a 45-point scoring center, he would have been signed already. I think they are looking at this production as a career year as well. Maybe he matches it over the next year, maybe two, but after that, it's unlikely and the fact that he's manily a fourth line center plays into this as well. Remember, players can be dealt during the Four Nations break.
