Undrafted To Team Canada: How Ryker Evans Went From Draft Day Disappointment To The World Championship - Community Post

Jul 20, 2025

Check out THN's Carol Schram's article about Ryker Evans' journey to the NHL.

No. 19 has belonged to some NHL
legends, including Hall of Famers Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman and Bryan
Trottier. No. 41? Not so much. But when defenseman Ryker Evans was
assigned those digits when he showed up to his first Regina Pats
training camp in 2017, he leaned in. “I was always 19 growing up,” he
said. “But when I got to Regina, Jake Leschyshyn was wearing 19. So I
was like, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to wear 41 and make it mine.’ And then I
slowly started liking it, and I thought it looked good, so I just kept
it.”

thehockeynews.comUndrafted To Team Canada: How Ryker Evans Went From Draft Day Disappointment To The World ChampionshipNo. 19 has belonged to some NHL legends, including Hall of Famers Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman and Bryan Trottier. No. 41? Not so much. But when defenseman Ryker Evans was assigned those digits when he showed up to his first Regina Pats training camp in 2017, he leaned in. “I was always 19 growing up,” he said. “But when I got to Regina, Jake Leschyshyn was wearing 19. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to wear 41 and make it mine.’ And then I slowly started liking it, and I thought it looked good, so I just kept it.”