The Nashville Predators have traded forward Luke Evangelista to the New Jersey Devils for a first-round pick and a second-round pick in 2028 NHL Draft, the team announced on Sept. 1.
Evangelista, who signed a two-year contract with the Predators last summer, will head to the Devils for the 2026-27 season, after which he will be a restricted free agent.
The picks acquired by Nashville involve Colorado’s 2028 first-round pick, which is a conditional pick, and New Jersey’s 2028 second-round pick. The pick from Colorado will transfer to a 2029 first-round pick if either a) Colorado’s 2027 first-round pick is not transferred to Toronto; or b) Colorado’s 2028 first-round pick falls within the Top 10.
This move comes as a surprise ahead of the 2026-27
season. Evangelista is coming off a career season, scoring 12 goals and 44 assists in 81 games. He was a top six forward, playing mostly with Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at@alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators trade Luke Evangelista to the New Jersey Devils for two picks
