Toronto-Born Forward Signs Two-Year Deal After Being Floated as Maple Leafs Target
Photo credit: Alan Poizner-Imagn Images
It seems the Toronto Maple Leafs will need to search elsewhere if they wanted to add some youth and depth, as promising RFA Luke Evangelista has reached a deal with Nashville.
On Friday evening it was announced that the Nashville Predators and restricted free agent Luke Evangelista had agreed to terms on an extension that would see the Toronto-born forward stick around for two years, at a reasonable $3-million AAV.
Insider Report Confirms Leafs Miss Out On Young Forward
It ends the saga of whether or not the two sides could come to an agreement, and all previous reports indicated that perhaps he was on the outs if they couldn't come to terms.
Evangelista, 23, was drafted 42nd overall by the Predators in 2020 and has recorded 86 points in 172 games thus far in his young career (33 goals, 53 assists) and finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting in 2023-24.
He will continue on with a Preds team that has some very exciting youth like Brady Martin and Tanner Molendyk in addition to veterans like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, who definitely could have used him as an injection of youth into their lineup, they need to head back to the drawing board and find another solution.
Leafs Will Have to Look Elsewhere For Added Roster Depth
Which is truly unfortunate given the amount of roster moves the team has needed to put forth recently.
Scott Laughton is out for a few weeks, David Kampf was waived; suddenly their starting lineup looks desperately thin and losing out on potentially acquiring Evangelista hurts.
Looking elsewhere has been a bit of an issue for Toronto over the last few weeks; they can't really get rid of a few veterans and Jack Roslovic is MIA. The options will have to be internal for now unless a deal happens, but they at least have a few choices.
Alex Nylander has proven to score at the NHL level, and they have some offensive potential in guys like Luke Haymes, so if they are worried about money or finding a partner; at least they have a decent stop-gap.
But teams aren't really letting players go for free, and the waiver wire is great but no one really stands out who could end up helping the team long-term; and that would be more for the AHL depth anyways.
So while the team needs to look elsewhere for a chance at someone like an Evangelista, the chances are slim and they'll need to get creative if they want to make a change before the regular season starts.
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