The Florida Panthers have traded centre Evan Rodrigues of Toronto, Ontario to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday according to Rogers Sportsnet. In addition to Rodrigues, the Devils are receiving forward prospect Ben Stevees and centre Jesper Boqvist. The Panthers are receiving goaltender Jacob Markstrom and left winger Angus Crookshank of North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Rodrigues is joining his fifth National Hockey League team. He has previously played five seasons with the Buffalo Sabres from 2016 to 2020, three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2020 to 2022, one season with the Colorado Avalanche from 2022 to 2023, and three seasons with the Florida Panthers from 2023 to 2026. While with the Panthers, Rodrigues won two Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025.
In 69 games with the Panthers in 2025-26, Rodrigues had 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points. He was a -16 with 38 penalty minutes, five power-play points, one shorthanded point, 160 shots on goal, 372 faceoff wins, 26 blocked shots, 63 hits, 31 takeaways and 47 giveaways.
The shorthanded point Rodrigues had in 2025-26 was the first of his NHL career. It came in a 5-1 Panthers win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 26. Rodrigues scored an unassisted shorthanded goal with three minutes and 20 seconds left in the first period. At the time, the Panthers went up by a score of 3-0.
