NHL Rumors: Predators Seriously Low-Balled RFA Luke Evangelista

Mason McTavish is under contract. Luke Hughes has signed his deal. But what the heck is going on with Luke Evangelista & the Nashville Predators? The most notable restricted free agent remaining has gone home to Ontario, and as we reported recently, the optics of that situation have gone from bad to worse.

Insider Frank Servalli, speaking on the Kevin Karius Show, tells us of the extreme lowball offer that the Predators began the negotiations with, setting a bad tone that's obviously carried over.

My understanding is, the first offer that came from the Preds was two years (with an AAV of) $1 million. That's no way to have a negotiation, to have a constructive way to get players under contract.

With comparables like Connor Zary recently signing with the Calgary Flames on a three-year deal at $3.775M and Jack Quinn getting two years from the Buffalo Sabres at $3.375M, it's not surprising that Evangelista was insulted by that offer from GM Barry Trotz, if true.

"I don't get that one at all," continued Seravalli. "Contracts in some ways are formulaic when it comes to certain players on the roster, right? A smart GM had mentioned to me, it's very simple to equate: 10 points equals $1M, 20 points equals $2M, and you go from there. Evangelista has 32- and 39-point seasons under his belt... Is this really that hard to do? Can we just call it a day at two years at $3M?"

And those numbers for the young Predators forward are indeed very comparable to what Zary and Quinn took into their negotiations.

The Evangelista stalemate drags on, with the season just one week away.