It may not feel like it, but Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans is already 28 years old and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
The newlywed forward was drafted 207th overall in 2014 and has since shown to be a valuable asset in the NHL.
Of course, his role is not the same as it was in the NCAA, where he played for Notre Dame and scored 40 or so points in his last two seasons.
When he arrived in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, he realized that if he wanted to make an impact in the NHL, he needed to take a backbencher role, which worked.
For the first time in his five-year NHL career, he stayed healthy and played all 82 games last year.
He averaged 16 minutes of ice time per game and scored 28 points, one less than his career total of 29.
He also set records in hits (86) and face-off win percentage (52.1%). Chances are that if Kirby Dach had been healthy last season
Evans would not have gotten as much play, but he took advantage of his opportunities and, as always, received plenty of ice time on the penalty kill.
Evans is ready to enter the third year of the three-year, $1.7 million contract he signed with the team
He will be allowed to test the waters of free agency at the end of this season, but he must have a solid year in order to do it successfully.