Notre Dame Hockey: Evans, Oglevie sign professional contracts

Two Notre Dame Fighting Irish players have taken the next step in their careers. While one wasn’t much of a shock, the other was a bit of a surprise.

On Monday, two days after Notre Dame lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA national championship game, Irish senior captain Jake Evans signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadians. Evans was drafted by Montreal in the 7^th round (207^th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Then on Wednesday, two days after the Evans signing, junior forward Andrew Oglevie decided to forego his senior season and sign a two-year, free agent entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

Evans and Oglevie were Notre Dame’s two top scorers this past season with 46 and 39 points, respectively.

Evans finished his Notre Dame career with 41 goals and 97 assists for 138 points in 158 games played. The Toronto native was also named the 2018 Senior CLASS award winner for men’s ice hockey. According to the press release, the Senior CLASS award is given annually to “a senior student-athlete who excels both on and off the ice, is classified as an NCAA Division I senior and has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.”

His last goal as a member of the Irish came in the Frozen Four semifinal with 5.7 seconds left in regulation to give Notre Dame a 4-3 win over Michigan.

Oglevie led the team in goals (15) and finished second in assists (24) and points (39) this past season. The junior forward from Fullerton, California finishes his Notre Dame career with 41 goals and 48 assists for 89 points in 107 games. Oglevie’s last goal as a member of the Irish was during the national championship game, when he scored Notre Dame’s lone goal on the power-play in the second period. He also scored the game-winning goal for Notre Dame against UMass-Lowell in the 2017 Northeast Regional Final to send the Irish to the Frozen Four.

Both Evans and Oglevie are joining franchises in a transition period, and will be given the opportunity to compete for an NHL roster spot out of training camp next season.