Player Discussion Jake Evans (Part II)

[tazsub3]

I hope so. I was hoping for a Lehkonen-Danault-Evans shutdown line that would go against the opposition's top offensive lines every night - add give us two versatile centers that could move up and down the lineup in case of injury...

i feel evans will become a better offensive center then danault ever was, while being close defensively.
His learning curve been so steep and no reason for it to regress, well except health issue. but that you cant predict.

 

[1909]

Yes, I was wrong. I didn't think there was a GM dumb enough to pay that kind of money to that kind of player. I'm glad MB stayed away.

And L.A. was not the only team willing to give Danault that much money . It could mean he is indeed a good, valuable player. Don't you think ?

 

[26Mats]

i feel evans will become a better offensive center then danault ever was, while being close defensively.
His learning curve been so steep and no reason for it to regress, well except health issue. but that you cant predict.

Danault is one of, if not the best defensive center in the game. The Selke voting is often based on the forward, from among the forwards who are good defensively, with the most points, to be objective. Even though points scored has nothing to do with being good defensively

It's possible Evan's gets to Danault level, but unlikely.

Offensively, I like Evan's tools. But Danault is no slouch when playing with offensive players. He creates scoring chances by creating turnovers, getting to pucks first, and logging the puck up ice with his superior skating and work ethic, and then sending his wingers in for scoring chances. He just has to play with good offensive wingers for them to convert the chances at a high enough rate to get to 40-50 points. He definitely can't manufacture points on his own or the pp.

 

[Habs Icing]

And L.A. was not the only team willing to give Danault that much money . It could mean he is indeed a good, valuable player. Don't you think ?

You're arguing with the wrong guy. I thought highly of Danault and disagreed with the posters who wanted him gone so their little pet project, KK, could get more TOI. Having said that, I don't think Danault was worth what LA paid him and I really disagreed with him when he said he believed he had more offense to give a team. Danault is a great #3 shut down centerman. In a cap world, I would not pay him 5.5 mil or whatever it is LA paid him.

 

[Walrus26]

You're arguing with the wrong guy. I thought highly of Danault and disagreed with the posters who wanted him gone so their little pet project, KK, could get more TOI. Having said that, I don't think Danault was worth what LA paid him and I really disagreed with him when he said he believed he had more offense to give a team. Danault is a great #3 shut down centerman. In a cap world, I would not pay him 5.5 mil or whatever it is LA paid him.

Spot on.

Being thankful we're not paying Danault $5.5m for the next 6 years doesn't equate to not placing value on his contributions in MTL.

 

[tazsub3]

Danault is one of, if not the best defensive center in the game. The Selke voting is often based on the forward, from among the forwards who are good defensively, with the most points, to be objective. Even though points scored has nothing to do with being good defensively

It's possible Evan's gets to Danault level, but unlikely.

Offensively, I like Evan's tools. But Danault is no slouch when playing with offensive players. He creates scoring chances by creating turnovers, getting to pucks first, and logging the puck up ice with his superior skating and work ethic, and then sending his wingers in for scoring chances. He just has to play with good offensive wingers for them to convert the chances at a high enough rate to get to 40-50 points. He definitely can't manufacture points on his own or the pp.

I did say close defenssively, so i fully acknowledge he would have a hard time reaching danault level.
but i honestly think the offensive potential of evans is there, and is way better then were danault was at the same age.

 

[tazsub3]

Spot on.

Being thankful we're not paying Danault $5.5m for the next 6 years doesn't equate to not placing value on his contributions in MTL.

Fully agree, but it is also easy to be blind to his shortcoming, especially this past regular season. He was bad and once gally was out, he was abysmal, and what was worst, he was used as a first/second line center thus handicapping the team with many more minutes of his playtime.

 

[1909]

Fully agree, but it is also easy to be blind to his shortcoming, especially this past regular season. He was bad and once gally was out, he was abysmal, and what was worst, he was used as a first/second line center thus handicapping the team with many more minutes of his playtime.

There was nobody else good enough to play his extra minutes. Let's turn the freagin page. He's gone and you are happy.

 

[Canadienna]

Great interview with Jake Evans for your Sunday evening.

Lol Gally and Lehky "prank" him by throwing trash into Evans car once a week!

Habs Tonight's been killing it. The Gally and Poehling pods were good too in a dearth of hockey news.

 

[dcyhabs]

Evans looked good in the playoffs but with the combination of low offensive upside and concussions I doubt he has a huge impact. I hope at least opposing players don't punch him in the head as Point did in the playoffs. Punches to the head in a scrum on a guy who has had concussions should be an automatic suspension, it's an attempt to injure and potentially end someone's career.

 

[JoelWarlord]

You're arguing with the wrong guy. I thought highly of Danault and disagreed with the posters who wanted him gone so their little pet project, KK, could get more TOI. Having said that, I don't think Danault was worth what LA paid him and I really disagreed with him when he said he believed he had more offense to give a team. Danault is a great #3 shut down centerman. In a cap world, I would not pay him 5.5 mil or whatever it is LA paid him.

Only in this fanbase is a toolsy 6'3 20 year old center taken 3rd overall "a little pet project".

 

[canucklover123]

I did say close defenssively, so i fully acknowledge he would have a hard time reaching danault level.
but i honestly think the offensive potential of evans is there, and is way better then were danault was at the same age.

Danault is not offensive specialist but you do realize Evans is only three years younger than Phil. I dont understand how the bolded makes sense.

However, I can see Evans still improving. I don't see that much offensive potential but he he did show some strong defensive acumen this year to warrant him having a bigger role to start next year

 

[1909]

Danault is not offensive specialist but you do realize Evans is only three years younger than Phil. I dont understand how the bolded makes sense.

However, I can see Evans still improving. I don't see that much offensive potential but he he did show some strong defensive acumen this year to warrant him having a bigger role to start next year

Evans is a bottom-six at best. Let's keep it that way.

 

[Vachon23]

it's need to be prove that he can be more then a 4th line C what I doubt

 

[GammaAway]

it's need to be prove that he can be more then a 4th line C what I doubt

I think he can be a decent 3rd line option, possibly on the wing, as long as you don't really rely on it the tilt the ice. I would trust him as a 12-14 minutes a night low event type of filler.

 

[Habs Halifax]

And L.A. was not the only team willing to give Danault that much money . It could mean he is indeed a good, valuable player. Don't you think ?

Those who thought Danault was worth $4.5M or under were just completely wrong. The obsession with offense and complete disregard to an elite defensive center is nonsense. I hope Evans is up for the challenge but we will miss Danault. Every single team looking to make the playoffs needs a player like Danault. Evans can probably put up offensive numbers similar to Danault but he's not elite on the D end. He's good but his game has to evolve a lot to do what Danault does in the 200' game and how he can shut down other teams top centers.

I fear this season will be entertaining but being mid pack in both offense and defense has me concerned. That's no man's land. Does anybody think we can be a top 5-10 range offensive team this year? A very small chance but possible. We will see

 

[Habs Halifax]

Evans is a bottom-six at best. Let's keep it that way.

Until Kotkaniemi can turn into the player we think he can, there is no top 6 or bottom 6 on the Habs. More like a 1B line with three 3rd lines. Bottom 3 lines rolled out at 5/5 due to zone starts/usage/match-up and the mature offensive ones get PP time.

 

[Habs Halifax]

it's need to be prove that he can be more then a 4th line C what I doubt

I believe Evans has proved he is more than a 4C but it's a short sample last season. His development curve is very positive and he's been groomed well. He has little flaws to nit pick so I think he is ready but he's going to need wingers like Lehkonen and Gallagher. I see several posters putting Gallagher with KK but I'm not too sure about that. I rather have someone with more vision/skating to play on KK's wing. To me, that is Toffoli/Anderson and Hoffman. Toffoli/Anderson will be tinkered with between Suzuki and KK. Personally, I'd put Anderson with Suzuki and Caufield.

Anderson / Suzuki / Caufield
Toffoli / KK / Hoffman
Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher
Drouin / Poehling / Armia
Paquette, Perreault

 

[BLONG7]

Those who thought Danault was worth $4.5M or under were just completely wrong. The obsession with offense and complete disregard to an elite defensive center is nonsense. I hope Evans is up for the challenge but we will miss Danault. Every single team looking to make the playoffs needs a player like Danault. Evans can probably put up offensive numbers similar to Danault but he's not elite on the D end. He's good but his game has to evolve a lot to do what Danault does in the 200' game and how he can shut down other teams top centers.

I fear this season will be entertaining but being mid pack in both offense and defense has me concerned. That's no man's land. Does anybody think we can be a top 5-10 range offensive team this year? A very small chance but possible. We will see

Phil didn't move the needle enough either....something had to give...shutdown guys just can't make 5M plus either....but it's all moot cuz Phil wanted out...
Our performances over the last several years, is on MB, but with Phil in the 1-2 spot we were not a playoff team most years. The trying not to lose style of play was not working...over the years.
What do other guys pay their shutdown C's? It would seem they make between 3-4M.......the guys who make 5M plus also provide offense to their game, and that's something Phil has been declining on......
Say it again, we all wanted Phil to stay................but not at any price......Phil wanted to go.....he did.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Phil didn't move the needle enough either....something had to give...shutdown guys just can't make 5M plus either....but it's all moot cuz Phil wanted out...
Our performances over the last several years, is on MB, but with Phil in the 1-2 spot we were not a playoff team most years. The trying not to lose style of play was not working...over the years.
What do other guys pay their shutdown C's? It would seem they make between 3-4M.......the guys who make 5M plus also provide offense to their game, and that's something Phil has been declining on......
Say it again, we all wanted Phil to stay................but not at any price......Phil wanted to go.....he did.

Every team is looking for a center like Danault and the issue is some will pay for it and some won't. It's a salary cap space structure at what you can afford to overpay for. $3M - $4M is old numbers. If you are talking about Eller, he would have gotten more on the open market. Danault just got greedy and went for a max deal cause he was trending well vs staying home for a little less... so I say good bye! That don't mean he is not a valuable middle 2C though. The AAV is rarely perfect and that applies to a lot of players from across the NHL.

What would I value more? Gallagher or Danault (see below). Probably Danault but we already had overpaid for Gallagher. Basically, Gallagher should be paid like Atkinson IMO. Both guys at those numbers are overpaid if you compare older contracts signed. If Evans can't handle the shutdown center role, we are in for a world of hurt if we think we are winning games being offensive heavy

I'd like the see poll results on who you pick between these two at those contracts? I'm assuming the majority still pick Gallagher?

Gallagher
* $6.5M for 6 years
* Age 29-34
vs
Danault
* $5.5M for 6 years
* Age 28-33

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

You're arguing with the wrong guy. I thought highly of Danault and disagreed with the posters who wanted him gone so their little pet project, KK, could get more TOI. Having said that, I don't think Danault was worth what LA paid him and I really disagreed with him when he said he believed he had more offense to give a team. Danault is a great #3 shut down centerman. In a cap world, I would not pay him 5.5 mil or whatever it is LA paid him.

The argument of the decimal Danault shoud be paid is borderline Uncle Scrooges opinion. If you agree to pay him 5, don't bother pay him 5,5.
You agree yeah yeah he's very good at this and this and this, yeah he deserve 5 but at 5,5 I just stop liking him so much. The decimal argument is flawed.

 

[Habs Icing]

The argument of the decimal Danault shoud be paid is borderline Uncle Scrooges opinion. If you agree to pay him 5, don't bother pay him 5,5.
You agree yeah yeah he's very good at this and this and this, yeah he deserve 5 but at 5,5 I just stop liking him so much. The decimal argument is flawed.

You went to the trouble of quoting me but then you make the mistake of putting words in my mouth. Not a brilliant move on your part. Where in the post you quoted did I say I would pay him 5 mil?

 

[BLONG7]

Every team is looking for a center like Danault and the issue is some will pay for it and some won't. It's a salary cap space structure at what you can afford to overpay for. $3M - $4M is old numbers. If you are talking about Eller, he would have gotten more on the open market. Danault just got greedy and went for a max deal cause he was trending well vs staying home for a little less... so I say good bye! That don't mean he is not a valuable middle 2C though. The AAV is rarely perfect and that applies to a lot of players from across the NHL.

What would I value more? Gallagher or Danault (see below). Probably Danault but we already had overpaid for Gallagher. Basically, Gallagher should be paid like Atkinson IMO. Both guys at those numbers are overpaid if you compare older contracts signed. If Evans can't handle the shutdown center role, we are in for a world of hurt if we think we are winning games being offensive heavy

I'd like the see poll results on who you pick between these two at those contracts? I'm assuming the majority still pick Gallagher?

Gallagher
* $6.5M for 6 years
* Age 29-34
vs
Danault
* $5.5M for 6 years
* Age 28-33

Some valid points....something to consider though, Gallagher was underpaid for a couple of years, providing 30 goals or thereabouts........Phil was not underpaid during that time....
Gallagher's agent knew this, and recovered some of the money for him, as he ages......
Both contracts are guys who seem to now, be slightly overpaid...I would rather Gallagher, because of his team commitment, vs Phil who recently seemed to show his colors, of being a me me guy....

As for Evans, he is around the same age as Danault, when Danault started to come into his own, as a shutdown guy....the difference being Evans will not get the top two wingers on his line, the way Phil did for 4-5 seasons...
Evans just might turn some heads.....but I still think that if they are not happy with their C men, they go out and acquire a guy ala Staal, only not Staal.....
The kids down the middle is a gamble, there is no doubt, but we were not a playoff team with Phil on the team either....it seems this is more along the lines of letting the kids run with it....and it should have us score more goals, as Suzuki and KK, and Evans go through this season...
If and it's a big if, our PP gets better, with Hoffman, and Caufield scoring goals, we will win more games....and we should not have to play a style, where we constantly try not to lose....

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

You went to the trouble of quoting me but then you make the mistake of putting words in my mouth. Not a brilliant move on your part. Where in the post you quoted did I say I would pay him 5 mil?

I wasn't replying on you specificly, you might think he's worth less but some people are willing to pay him 5 you must know. Anyway, a nhl gm agreed to pay him 5,5 and Phil got other offers, so ...

 

[Habs Icing]

I wasn't replying on you specificly, you might think he's worth less but some people are willing to pay him 5 you must know. Anyway, a nhl gm agreed to pay him 5,5 and Phil got other offers, so ...

But you picked my post and you stated I was ready to pay him 5 mil so why not go further and pay him 5.5.

Okay even though you had me saying something I didn't say, I'll tell you why you're wrong. If you want to buy a house. You sit down and discuss with your wife how much you think you can afford. So you and your wife set a range from say 4 million being the lowest and 5 being the highest. You go out and see a house and the asking price is 5.5 million. Do you tell your wife it's only a decimal? What're 5 hundred thousand dollars more?