Panthers Pulse: Evan Rodrigues is Everything Florida Could Have Wanted
In just one year in Sunrise, Evan Rodrigues already gave the Florida Panthers everything they could have wanted when they signed him in free agency.
Photo via Phillip Pritchard (Twitter: @KeeperOfTheCup)
Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. Evan Rodrigues is next.
2023-24 Stats: 12 goals, 39 points, 80 GP (Playoffs: seven goals, 15 points, 24 GP)
In just one season since inking a three-year, $3 million AAV deal, Evan Rodrigues has delivered the Florida Panthers everything they could have ever wanted.
He has played on just about every forward line and been a key contributor to each one, he stepped up and took on a leadership role when called upon and he stepped up big in the playoffs en route to a Stanley Cup.
It was Rodrigues who led the Panthers in points in the Cup Final, scoring four goals and seven points including an assist on Carter Verhaeghe’s opening goal in Game 7. It was also Rodrigues who took Anton Lundell under his wing at a crucial point of the regular season before he broke out to become a standout player in the playoffs.
Both of these things were living proof of what makes Rodrigues so valuable.
Rodrigues’ versatility allows the Panthers to have a lot of flexibility within their forward group. And they needed it during last year’s playoff run.
Coach Paul Maurice moved him to a line with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett late in the Eastern Conference final —one he never played on during the regular season — and not only did he adapt quickly, but he shined.
That line was Florida’s best early on in the series. They were on top of pucks, they were hemming the Oilers in their own zone and they forechecked hard. Rodrigues, of course, did the rest with his three goals early in the series.
After that performance, it could very well be where he starts the season.
But he has also proven to have chemistry with Lundell and Sasha Barkov as well.
And specifically Lundell.
The 22-year-old was hitting a snag in the latter half of the season when Maurice decided to bump Rodrigues down from Barkov’s line to his. He then proceeded to play his best hockey of the season.
When Rodrigues got added to Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen’s wing, that line outscored its opponents 11-2 in 222:58 of time-on-ice while Lundell re-gained his scoring touch again.
And Rodrigues’ leadership had a lot to do with helping Lundell regain that scoring touch.
Vladimir Tarasenko helped Lundell even more once he arrived at the trade deadline — ultimately finishing the playoff run on that third line — but he’s gone now.
Rodrigues could just as easily return to that spot in the lineup while opening a spot for a newcomer on Tkachuk or Barkov’s line.
Either way, the Panthers could see all of those combinations happen at some point with the versatility Rodrigues provides. And he would fit like glue in all of them.
That was why they brought him in, after all. He is a perfect complimentary piece who can score goals, make plays and win puck battles in the corner.
He can do it all.
Up Next in Panthers Pulse: Eetu Luostarinen
Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett