The Nashville Predators have finally reached a contract extension with 23 year old RFA forward Luke Evangelista via insider Frank Seravalli. The contract will come in at 2 years with a seasonal value of $3 million per year.
Luke Evangelista was the top remaining unsigned RFA remaining with the Mason McTavish and Luke Hughes deals having been completed within the last week.
This will be a nice bridge deal for Luke to prove himself over the course of this short term deal ahead of his next contract. Evangelista recorded 10 goals and 22 assists for 32 points in 68 games last year with the Predators.
What does this move mean for Nashville?
This is good news for Nashville to get this deal done prior to the start of the regular season and not let the contract negotiations drag on any further. Although he did miss training camp and most of the preseason, better late than never for a deal to get agreed upon.
For the Predators, it locks in a promising young forward for the next couple seasons. Evangelista is expected to play a key part in getting Nashville back on track after a tough 24-25 year as one of the squad's players with the most potential. He is expected to grow into a top 6 role with this emerging offensive group.
Over the course of his 3 year NHL career with Nashville, Evangelista has amassed 33 goals and 53 assists for 86 points in 172 regular season games. In the playoffs, he has registered 1 goal in 6 games.