Oakville’s Evangelista makes NHL debut with Nashville

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Published March 1, 2023 at 12:25 pm

Oakville native and former London Knights forward Luke Evangelista made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. LUKE DURDA/OHL IMAGES

Oakville native Luke Evangelista’s dream of playing in the NHL one day came true Tuesday night (Feb. 28).

The 21-year-old forward made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators in a contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bridgestone Arena.

Evangelista got 14:28 of playing time and registered two shots on goal in the Predators 3-1 loss to the Penguins.

The Predators’ second round pick (42 overall) in 2020, Evangelista earned his promotion to the NHL after a fantastic start to the AHL season with the Milwaukee Admirals.

The six-foot, 183-pound winger had 41 points (9-32-41) in 49 games with Nashville’s farm team before getting called up.

The former London Knight led all OHL scorers in 2021-22 with 55 goals and finished the season with 111 points (55-56-111) in 62 games. He was voted to the league’s second all-star team.

Evangelista also led the OHL in shots with 340 last year. He was originally a first round pick (14 overall) of the Knights in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection.

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