With an eye toward a college career from a young age, Jake Evans spent his teen years playing in the Ontario Junior Hockey League to maintain his NCAA eligibility. He performed well in that league, putting up 44 points in his first full season before contributing 16 goals and 47 assists in a 49-game 2013-14 campaign.
The Montreal Canadiens took a chance on the centreman with the 207th selection in the 2014 draft, waiting to see what type of player he could become after a four-year term at the University of Notre Dame.
Seeing little more to his game than what could be ascertained from his stat line, head coach Jeff Jackson placed Evans on the wing for his freshman season, and witnessed his new charge put up a respectable yet unremarkable 17 points.