In the dead of the offseason, New Jersey Devils general manager Sunny Mehta has made one more move to tighten up the offense. The New Jersey Devils announced Tuesday night that they acquired forward Luke Evangelista from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Colorado’s first-round pick in 2028 (conditional) and the Devils’ own 2028 second-round pick.
Evangelista
After being drafted in the second round (No. 42) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Evangelista has played in 253 games as a member of the Nashville Predators. This past season, at just 24 years old, Evangelista posted a career-year. The fourth-year forward recorded 12 goals and a career-high 44 assists and 56 points with a struggling Predators offense.
Evangelista has already established himself as a strong defensive player. Over the last three seasons, he ranks in the 94th percentile in on-ice defensive impacts according to Evolving Hockey. His playmaking abilities are off the charts as well. According to JFreshHockey on X, Evangelista ranks in the following percentiles:
- 92nd percentile in primary assists
- 92nd percentile in chance assists
- 86th percentile in primary shot assists
- 81st percentile in in-zone shot assists
- 87th percentile in rush shot assists
- 82nd percentile in high-danger passes
Evangelista is also a player that excels in the rush game. An area that fits the team’s roster and one that say the team have so much success back in the 2022-23 season when the team posted arguably their best regular season in franchise history. Evangelista ranks in the 87th percentile in rush shot assists and in the 84th percentile in rush offense, according to JFreshHockey on X.
Adding Evangelista adds one more winger the Devils can add to their top-six. He is a two-way presence who is a dynamic passer and is also due some positive regression when it comes to goal scoring.
According to NHLFoley on X, “Evangelista scored nine goals below expected last year. That adjustment would have needed him 65 points. He shot at 6.8%, 1.6% below his career-average, and recorded a third-straight season with a PDO below 100.”
Long story short, even in a career-season, Evangelista left more on the table, on a Predators team that flat out stunk.
With just one year left on a two-year deal, the Devils will now have a chance to extend Evangelista before he becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the 2026-27 season. Regardless, he is under team control.
This moves also gives New Jersey serious depth in their forward group. With the additions of Anthony Mantha, Jesper Boqvist, Evan Rodrigues, and Amadeus Lombardi, New Jersey has 16 NHL-quality forwards for their roster. This does raise the question, however, if there are going to additional moves made.
The Return
In exchange for the young forward, the Devils forked over two picks in the 2028 NHL Entry Draft. The first pick sent over has already been flipped around a few times. After being traded to the Calgary Flames from the Colorado Avalanche in the Nazem Kadri deal, New Jersey acquired the 2028 first-round pick in the trade that sent Simon Nemec to Calgary. The pick is still top-10 protected and will shift to a 2029 first-round pick if it does happen to land in the top-10.
The second pick New Jersey sacrificed was their own 2028 second-round pick. Even with giving up the picks, New Jersey will still own four picks in the first two rounds over the next two years.