Luke Evangelista and Cal Foote debut for the Nashville Predators
Predators fans had their first chance to see both play last night against Pittsburgh
Luke Evangelista and Cal Foote are the newest skaters to wear the gold for the Nashville Predators. Both made their debut last night. Of course, while they both wound up in Nashville, each took a different path to get there.
Foote, a defender and 1st round draft pick for Tampa Bay in 2017, made his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season. Foote came over in the Tanner Jeannot trade, the lone player received in a sea of draft picks. Foote brings a lot of size with him, standing tall at 6 foot 4 and weighing in at 225 lbs. Most recently, you may have seen Foote in an on-ice altercation with current teammate, Cole Smith.
Evangelista, the Predators 2nd round draft pick in 2020, has been playing in Milwaukee this season. He's been on fire with 9 goals and 32 assists thus far. He was also known for setting the OHL ablaze during his final year with the London Knights, netting 55 goals and 56 assists. Of course, this was not just Evangelista's Predators debut, but his NHL debut as well.
Evangelista played on a line with his Milwaukee teammates, opposite Zach Sanford and centered by Mark Jankowski. I guess you'd say this was the fourth line. It's worth noting that Evangelista saw a little bit of time on the power play.
Evangelista was also responsible for one of the more memorable moments in last night's game as he absolutely trucked Evgeni Malkin and immediately drew a retaliation penalty.
Evangelista earned praise from both Roman Josi and John Hynes alike. Josi said, "He was great. He's very skilled, he's got good hands, good vision, and I thought he looked very good out there." Hynes noted that he was impressed with not only his offensive prowess, but his defensive play as well.
Foote played with Jeremy Lauzon on the 3rd pairing behind Josi/Fabbro and McDonagh/Carrier. Despite his first trip to his new home penalty box for what appeared to be a fairly soft interference call, he looked solid defensively. Taking a look at this player card from Andy & Rono tells you that he played exactly as advertised. Look at that Denial rating! If you like third pairing defenders the way I do, you'll note that Foote can leverage his huge size to stand guys up at the blue line and shut down zone-entry attempts.
Foote also was a noticeable presence in front of Juuse Saros. He looked strong when locked up with opposing skaters, but also managed to get tangled up with Saros. First game jitters? Perhaps. Hopefully, that won't be an issue moving forward.
Overall, it was a memorable debut for Luke Evangelista and left many hungry for more from the exciting, young forward. Foote's debut was serviceable, but certainly not without some room for improvement.
-featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports-
