Evangelista, 20 (2/21/02), was among the OHL's top statistical performers during the 2021-22 regular season, leading the league in goals with 55 and finishing fourth in points with 111 (55g-56a). The 5-foot-11, 166-pound forward, who captained London this season, topped all Knights players in goals, assists, points and plus-minus (+29) and helped lead his team to a division title for the third straight campaign. He owned the most points in an OHL regular season by a Predators draft pick, a mark previously held by David Legwand in 1997-98 (105), and he was the third player selected by Nashville to score at least 50 goals in a CHL season and the first since Alexander Radulov in 2005-06. Evangelista concluded the regular season with 30 multi-point performances - including nine games with at least four points - and recorded a point in 53 of his 63 contests, headlined by a season-opening 12-game point streak (12g-7a) from Oct. 8-Nov. 16. He added six points (2g-4a) in seven postseason performances.
Originally drafted by Nashville in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Evangelista has recorded 174 points (78g-96a) in 151 games for London since making his OHL debut in 2018-19. He skated in his first 14 professional contests during the 2020-21 campaign, tallying four assists for the AHL's Chicago Wolves after the OHL canceled its season due to COVID-19. Internationally, the Oakville, Ont., native competed for Canada White at the 2018 U-17 World Hockey Challenge, where he picked up an assist in five games; he also attended Canada's selection camp for the 2022 World Junior Championship. Evangelista is second cousins with two-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan.
