Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans of Toronto, Ontario is out long term with a knee injury. According to Rogers Sportsnet, he is projected to be out four to six weeks.
How did Evans get hurt?
Evans had a knee-on-knee collision with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Justin Brazeau of New Liskeard, Ontario on December 20 in a 4-0 Canadiens win over the Penguins at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. The injury happened during Evans’s third shift of the game. At the time of the ailment, he had one hit and one blocked shot in only one minute and 57 seconds worth of action.
Evans in 2025-26
Evans has five goals and five assists for 10 points in 34 games. He is a -13 with eight penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, 34 shots on goal, 236 faceoff wins, 24 blocked shots, 44 hits, six takeaways, and 26 giveaways.
Evans’s career statistics
In 384 National Hockey League regular season games since the 2019-20 season, Evans has 45 goals and 93 assists for 138 points. He is a -20 worth 131 penalty minutes, one power-play point, 13 shorthanded points, six game-winning goals, 443 shots on goal, 2453 faceoff wins, 258 blocked shots, 464 hits, 123 takeaways, and 199 giveaways.
Versatile
Evans is valuable to the Canadiens because he can play centre and right wing. He has won 51.8% of his faceoff attempts in his career, including a career best 54.1% in 2025-26. Evans has been above 50% in the faceoff draws in six of his seven NHL seasons.
Effective checking line player
It is on the penalty kill where Evans is very valuable. He was seventh in the NHL last season with six shorthanded points (three shorthanded goals and three shorthanded assists). The leader was Buffalo Sabres right winger Alex Tuch of Syracuse, New York with nine shorthanded points (a NHL high six shorthanded goals and three shorthanded assists).
Seventh round pick to make it into the NHL
Evans was a rare seventh round pick to make it into the National Hockey League. He was selected 207th overall. Evans was the fourth last player taken in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and one of five players chosen from the seventh round in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft to make it into the NHL. The other four players are Pierre Engvall, Victor Olofsson, Ondrej Kase and the last player taken in the 2014 NHL Draft, Jacob Middleton.
Tied for second in the Atlantic
Montreal and Tampa Bay both have 45 points. They are two points back of the first place Detroit Red Wings.
