Hughes is proactive and forward looking, if he wanted Evans as part of the team long-term he likely would've started talks already and tried to extend him in the off-season.
From Evans point of view, I am sure he loves playing here, but I think he'll want to go elsewhere as a UFA. He's in his late 20's and probably has seen the contacts guys like Copp, Compher, Stephenson etc. got and will want to try his luck on the market. There will also surely be teams who will give him more of a chance offensively on a higher line compared to the Habs have.
Personally if I was in Evans shoes as a UFA I would be pretty annoyed. He started the season with Gallagher/Anderson and that line was one of our better lines, then he got dropped to the 4th line with Heineman/Armia and helped make that line one of our better lines. Despite this, he's watched Dach get unlimited chances in our top 6 and on the PP while not earning any of it.
IF Evans did come back, I'd be happy giving up to $4M. He's always worked his ass off, is elite on the PK, puts up 25-30 points a year and can always be put on the wing if we are deep down the middle in the future.