- Luke Evangelista was packed for Nashville when his agent told him to stay by the phone
- The Devils sent a conditional 2028 first and a 2028 second the other way
- Read below for what Sunny Mehta told him the night the trade went through
Luke Evangelista had his bags packed for the wrong city.
The winger met the New Jersey media on a Zoom call Thursday, two days after the Devils pried him out of Nashville. Someone asked how the news reached him.
“I honestly was pretty surprised. I was all packed up, and I was actually headed to Nashville (Wednesday) morning. And then my agent kind of gave me like maybe an hour, hour and a half heads up, that something might be going down and to stay by the phone. It was pretty much a shock. I thought I was going back to Nashville. I didn’t quite see it coming.”
Watch the whole availability:
Nashville sent the 24-year-old east on Tuesday night for a conditional 2028 first-round pick originally belonging to Colorado and New Jersey’s own 2028 second.
Two picks for a forward coming off 12 goals and 44 assists in 81 games caught the league off guard. Our breakdown of the trade ran through why Nashville moved a 24-year-old off a career year.
Devils general manager Sunny Mehta called that same night, and Evangelista relayed the pitch:
“He just kind of alluded to looking for some kind of under-the-radar pickups in a sense that they used to do in Florida. He said I kind of fit that mold. So it was a great talk with him. And it feels really good to be wanted, obviously.”
Florida is where Mehta worked before New Jersey hired him, and the Panthers built their contenders on exactly those kinds of buys.
Where he slots in is the interesting part. New Jersey scored 2.76 goals per game last season, sixth-worst in the league, and missed the playoffs with Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier all on the roster.
Depth was the first thing he brought up, per Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com. Shut down the Hughes line, Evangelista said, and Hischier rolls out right behind it.
Money is the one thing he claims not to be thinking about. Evangelista becomes a restricted free agent after this season, and he told the group his job is to focus on the play and let the contract sort itself out.
What he wants is simpler than a raise. Evangelista has watched Prudential Center on television during the playoffs, called it absolutely rocking, and said he would love to get a taste of that building in April.
