Luke Evangelista trade includes a first-round condition tied directly to the Maple Leafs

The New Jersey Devils acquired Luke Evangelista from the Nashville Predators, and the conditional first-round pick going the other way has a direct connection to Toronto.

On Tuesday night, the NHL finally got some more offseason action as the New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators struck a deal that would send versatile forward Luke Evangelista from the Music City to the Garden State, while the Predators got themselves two picks - including a 2028 first-rounder.

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Evangelista, 24, was the Predators' 42nd overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and posted 56 points in 81 games for Nashville in 2025-26. In his young career he has 142 points in 253 games (45 goals, 97 assists) while adding a plus-six and only 74 PIM in 15:02 TOI.

But with this trade comes an interesting caveat that surprisingly involves the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto's Nicolas Roy trade quietly became part of the price New Jersey paid for Luke Evangelista

With the 2028 pick being exchanged and owned originally by Colorado, it does involve the Maple Leafs - coincidentally twice. Firstly, that 2028 pick was first used to acquire Nazem Kadri back at the deadline, then traded again a few months later in the Simon Nemec blockbuster.

Here's a flowchart showing the timeline of that pick being bounced around:

Calgary acquires 2028 Conditional 1st (COL, Nazem Kadri Trade) --> New Jersey acquires 2028 Conditional 1st (COL, Simon Nemec Trade) --> Nashville acquires 2028 Conditional 1st (COL, Luke Evangelista Trade)

Where Toronto comes in is with the conditions* added to the Colorado pick - which Puckpedia lays out as such:

**Condition is as follows: if Colorado's 2027 1st (Top 10 protected, Nic Roy trade) goes to Toronto, Nashville acquires a 2028 1st round pick (Top 10 protected, slides to 2029)... If the 2027 1st round pick is Top 10, and the 2028 1st slides to Toronto, then Nashville receives Colorado's 2029 1st round pick unconditionally

So basically, Toronto gets a pick regardless due to the Nic Roy deal however it'll depend on Colorado's finish this season that determines if Toronto gets their pick in 2027 or if it slides to 2028.

Colorado finishing in the top 10 would give Toronto the 2028 first and make Nashville wait another year for its Evangelista prize

While highly unlikely, the Avalanche could finish in the Top-10 for draft lottery teams and end up extending the Predators' wait for their pick. That in turn would give the Maple Leafs a 2028 first-rounder that is unprotected so essentially they'd benefit but need to be patent.

Nashville on the other hand may need to wait two years to get their pick and much like the Maple Leafs did this year, could end up winning the lottery, selecting a superstar, then handing the Predators a late-round pick by virtue of competing again.

With the Preds getting older and needing to focus on adding some more youth to their pipeline, waiting an extra year for a pick could hurt them - on top of losing a young forward still years from his prime.

It's a bit ironic that Chris McFarland runs the Predators after building a powerhouse in Colorado, because it may be his former team's downfall that leads his current team to miss out on a premium pick.

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