Elliotte Friedman fact-checks Predators' shockingly low alleged contract offer to Luke Evangelista

Luke Evangelista, a 23-year-old right winger from Toronto, is at a key point in his career with Nashville Predators. He has played three NHL seasons, all with Nashville, after being drafted 42nd in 2020. After his entry level contract, he's now a restricted free agent.

Evangelista's contract talks with Nashville have attracted attention because of the delay. Reports say that the Predators offered him a $1 million AAV, while Evangelista is seeking a higher salary.

On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman clarified confusion about the offer. He said that a tweet claimed Nashville’s offer was “two times one,” but that's not correct. According to Friedman, the team’s first offer was closer to “two times two-ish.”

"Someone so showed me a tweet that said that Nashville's original offer to Evangelista was two times one. I don't think that's correct. I heard actually, that it was like two times two-ish. So again, I don't know where the source of that was, but I checked it, and I was told that their first offer was two times two-ish," Friedman said on Friday. [48:40 onwards]

"And like I've said many times, I think the counter was Jack Quinn, which was two times three plus I just all I know is, as of what I was hearing on Thursday, and again, it can always change with one phone call, is that they were still having trouble bridging that gap on a two-year deal."

Last season, Luke Evangelista played 68 games, scored 10 goals and added 22 assists, averaging 13:52 minutes per game. Over 172 career games, he has 33 goals and 53 assists. Right now, negotiations are ongoing, and the two sides are trying to find common ground.

Earlier in the week, Friedman said that he was unsure how Nashville would resolve the negotiations.

“They have got a number and they've kind of said this is our number, and I'm not sure if they've moved very far at this point,” Friedman said on Monday.

NHL insider David Pagnotta also shared that the Predators haven't made much progress with Evangelista. The team and player have mainly discussed a two-year deal, with a three-year option also considered, but a big financial gap remains. Pagnotta called the situation a “head scratcher,” pointing out the difficulty in closing the gap.

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Nashville Predators signed forward Brady Martin

In August, Nashville signed 18-year-old forward Brady Martin to a three-year entry-level contract. The Predators signed him fifth in the 2025 NHL Draft.

In a practice session on Wednesday, Martin spoke about his NHL debut experience.

“It's pretty cool to still be here and be skating with those guys. I’m just taking it day by day and trying to stick around for the beginning of the season and see how it goes from there,” he said (according to NHL.com).

The Predators, who missed the playoffs last season, start their 2025-26 campaign against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.