Evans said Friday "it was still sinking in I signed my first NHL contract" but added it is part of his long-planned future.
"My goal has always been to play in the NHL," said Evans, who went undrafted as an 18-year-old and was small for his age during earlier teen years. "It is imprinted into my mind for the longest time. There was no way anyone was going to talk me out of it."
Evans celebrated the milestone with his parents before they boarded a plane to watch Evans' younger sister, Payten, play in a tournament with the Saskatchewan Notre Dame Hounds U18. His younger sister appears to be following in her brother's footsteps as the top scorer among defenders on her team.
Evans said he looks forward to stepping up to the next level with Charlotte.
"It will be really fun to practice with the team and hopefully to get some game action," said Evans during a phone conversation. "The AHL is obviously faster and everybody knows their job. It's simpler in that teammates are in the right place at the right time."
The standard entry-level contract that Evans agreed to pays one salary amount at the NHL level and a different amount when the player is on the AHL roster. GM Ron Francis has said Evans will have a full opportunity to make the Kraken roster during training camp in September.
"We're excited to sign our second-ever draft pick," said Francis. "Ryker had a really impressive season with the Regina Pats and we're looking forward to having him continue his development with our organization."
Evans was strongly recommended as the second-round pick by the entire amateur scouting staff. Francis said the group was "pounding the table" in support of Evans. The young D-man looked quick and confident moving the puck and himself into offensive rushes during team scrimmage and preseason game action last fall.
No doubt Evans gained more confidence this season with the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats, where he starred along with 16-year-old teammate and scoring phenom Connor Bedard.
On Thursday, in a vote by coaches, Evans was named to the WHL East Division Second-All Star Team. He notched a career-high 14 goals along with 47 assists for 61 points in 63 games. He ranked fifth among all WHL D-men in assists on the power play and eighth for total assists. Evans played in all situations - 5-on-5, power play, penalty kill, late lead holds - and was a fan favorite in Regina in his last three WHL seasons.
Evans said he is happy about maintaining a high level of performance and trust from Regina coaches this season on both ends of the ice: "I was pretty consistent and that's what I needed to make it to the next level."
Regina just missed qualifying for the WHL playoffs, but was clearly in rebuild mode this season. Some media members covering the WHL figured Evans to be traded midseason to a contender, but he instead stayed put, continuing to provide big offense and "helping the young guys."
The 6-0, 191-pound Evans set a goal this season to get more shots on net. His 14 goals and 177 shots on goal in 63 games (averaging nearly three per game) are proof he covered that objective. Only Bedard had more shots.
The Calgary native also focused on creating "more deception to evade [opposing] forwards to generate offense" and "tightening my defensive play was important, getting my stick on pucks and directing where you want the other team's forwards to go."
