The New Jersey Devils are amongst several teams looking to add center depth in the National Hockey League. New Jersey continues to deal with injuries down the middle with Curtis Lazar and, most recently, Erik Haula. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that Haula will miss some time with an ankle sprain. The Devils are looking at weeks in terms of his return to the lineup.
NHL Rumors: Tom Fitzgerald Looking To Add Depth to New Jersey Devils Roster
But even before Lazar and Haula’s injuries, New Jersey had been looking to add depth down the middle. Justin Dowling has been a good addition from the AHL Utica Comets when he needed to fill in due to an injury. However, President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is always on the hunt to improve his team, whether he is adding to a position of strength or not.
Enter Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans. Evans is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and has a reasonable salary cap hit of $1.7 million. The Devils and Canadiens are no strangers to making trades in the last calendar year. New Jersey traded for goaltender Jake Allen at last year’s trade deadline and defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic in the summer.
So it makes sense, as Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported on an early edition of Insider Trading, that the Devils are one of the teams poking around to gauge the market on Jake Evans.
“The tough part will be this because Jake Evans only makes $1.7 million. I know there are a lot of cup contenders that are circling his name and are waiting to see how Montreal plays that situation out,” LeBrun said. “For example, the Devils, I’m told, are among the teams that have already kicked tires on Jake Evans. The Devils are looking for a center.”
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Evans is playing some of the best hockey of his career. He has a shooting percentage of 28 percent. Evans’s career average has been 10 percent. He is on pace for 20 goals this season. Currently with the Canadiens, Evans has 23 points (10 goals and 13 assists) in 40 games.
He is an excellent fourth-line depth piece for any team and can also play on the third line. The question will be the cost of such a player.
According to PuckPedia.com, the Devils have $2.4 million in cap space to add at the March 7th trade deadline. The Jake Evans cap hit would fit right into the Devils cap structure even if the Canadiens don’t retain salary. Again, a lot will depend on the Canadiens playoff position, but Fitzgerald is getting ahead of the game just in case Montreal slips down the standings.
