Luke Evangelista's impressive first two games for the Nashville Predators
The Preds’ latest forward project looks very promising.
With all the changes going on with the Nashville Predators, it would be easy to forget about the debut of one of their brightest young forward prospects
Luke Evangelista, a 2nd round draft pick by the Preds in 2020, has been lighting up scoreboards for a while now. He piled up 111 points in 62 games for the London Knights the year after he was drafted, then he put up 41 points in 49 games for the Admirals this year.
With the Preds needing players to fill holes at forward vacated by trades involving Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Tanner Jeannot, it only made sense to see what Luke Evangelista could bring.
And so far, he has not disappointed.
In his debut on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Evangelista showed flashes of brilliance in the offensive end. According to Natural Stat Trick, he led all Preds forwards in individual expected goals with 0.72 in only 11:52 minutes of ice time.
He also had a surprising moment of physicality involving an eventual Hall of Famer, which was a fun moment for the home crowd.
In his second NHL game on Thursday against Florida, Evangelista finally got his first NHL point. It was a quick moment of brilliance that the Preds' power play has been missing, allowing Matt Duchene to put Nashville up 1-0 in the first period.
It's only two games, but so far Luke Evangelista's offensive skills looks like they are going to pay off for the Nashville Predators.
— Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports —
