MANCHESTER, NH - MARCH 26: Notre Dame Fighting Irish center Jake Evans (18) skates the puck through the neutral zone during the NCAA Northeast Regional final between the UMass Lowell River Hawks and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on March 26, 2017, at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Fighting Irish defeated the River Hawks 3-2 (OT). (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Montreal Canadiens have players they may need to resign, but prospect Jake Evans is probably on his way to an entry-level contract.

Contracts, extensions, and signings may be too early to talk about right now. It’s only November, and those moves don’t primarily happen until the end of the regular season. The Montreal Canadiens are a team who have players they’ll need to resign for the future, for example, Phillip Danault.

Jacob de La Rose and Charlie Lindgren are two more examples of players on the team who will need a new contract. What about players who aren’t on the Habs? Nine prospects are on the final year of their deal and will need a new one to remain part of the organization.

However, I want to switch gears a little bit. Although there are prospects in the Habs systems with contracts, there is a handful who don’t. Jake Evans is an example.

The Montreal Canadiens initially drafted Evans in the 7th round of the 2014 draft after a 63 point season with the St. Michael’s Buzzers (OJHL). He’s spent the three years playing for the hockey team at the University of Notre Dame. Evans’ first season with the Irish was pretty underwhelming with seven goals and ten assists in 17 games. However, Evans improved his overall game improving his point total in succeeding years.

The 21-year-old is now a senior at Notre Dame. This year is the fourth year since the Habs originally drafted him, meaning a decision is coming. If not he isn’t signed, Evans becomes a restricted free agent and can sign with any team.

What Do the Habs Do?

The Montreal Canadiens currently have 45 players signed in the organization. Assuming that remains the same by the end of the season, they will only have 45 spots left. Has Evans played well enough to take up one of them?

He’s off to a great start to this year with four goals and fourteen assists in 10 games. Evans has been a large part of Notre Dames’ offence as a lot of the goals scored have been from faceoff wins or smart plays made to one of his teammates.

Evans’ high level of play is being noticed around the NCAA as he leads in both assists and overall points. If this continues for the rest of the season and he at least remains in the top five, you have to think Marc Bergevin would look into the possibility of singing. Zach Aston-Reese was a senior at Northeastern University last year and ended up leading the NCAA in scoring with 31 goals and 32 assists. He signed an entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of his college season and played 10 AHL games scoring three goals and five assists.

There’s value in leading your league in anything, and the Montreal Canadiens aren’t in any position to say no to a player like Evans, mainly because he plays center. If management still isn’t convinced, they could try to swing an AHL deal and have him play for the Laval Rocket. That could be an excellent test to determine if he can handle professional hockey on a nightly basis.

The only problem with that idea is that most players coming out of college want that possibility that they could be in the NHL sooner rather than later. Evans won’t be guaranteed an opportunity if he signs an AHL only contract.

I’m all for being cautious and not wanting to ‘waste’ a contract, however, if Evans continues this production and level of play, the Habs should 100% sign him. Finding a serviceable player in the 7th round of any draft doesn’t happen. It would give those who are critical of the Habs’ drafting a run for their money if Evans pans out.

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