Evan Rodrigues Re-Signed to a one-year contract.

Evan Rodrigues has been re-signed to a one-year contract for $1,000,000.

So I’m actually pleasently surprised about this re-sign, I really thought they would let Rodrigues walk. Rodrigues seems to be a love him or hate him player for Pittsburgh fans, as for me, I believe Rodrigues happens to be a criminally underrated player with a lot more potential.

He’s a great skater, he has some decent speed, and he’s a fantastic playmaker. The key to realizing Rodrigues true potential is to place him on a line where he has players to pass too. So far throughout his career Rodrigues has essentially played with mostly bums. When he was playing in Buffalo he played mostly 4th line on a terrible team and in his 18-19 season with Buffalo he still managed to get (9G) (20A) in (74GP), those are some decent stats due to the circumstances. Ideally, he needs to be on a line where he has a sniper and a power forward, so my problem is, as much as I love him, where does he fit on the Penguins team? I just don’t know where they plan on playing him to have him reach his full potential. Clearly the Penguins see the same untapped potential in Rodrigues that I do, at least hopefully they do, and he doesn’t get buried in the 4th line. Which would be the worst possible place for him as he’s a playmaker not a grinder, the Penguins 4th line desperately needs grit or as Hextall put it “sandpaper” Rodrigues is definitely not sandpaper.

I really like the team friendly $1,000,000, as I’ve stated to my fellow Penguin Poop writers, I think Rodrigues really enjoys playing in Pittsburgh, and it seems the rest of the team and coaches likes him as well, he seems to be adding a bit of locker room chemistry, as he could of went to free agency or asked for $1,300,000 or went for $2,000,000, so getting him for only $1 million is bargain in my opinion.

Via NHL: Rodrigues, 28, completed his first full season with Pittsburgh in 2020-21, appearing 35 games where he picked up seven goals, seven assists, 14 points and one game-winning goal while seeing time on all four lines. His seven goals were just two shy of tying his career high of nine which he set in 74 games in 2018-19. 

The Toronto, Ontario native made his NHL postseason debut this past season in Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New York Islanders, picking up an assist in two games. 

Prior to joining Pittsburgh, Rodrigues played in 192 games with the Buffalo Sabres, registering 71 points (26G-45A). He enjoyed a career season with Buffalo in 2018-19, registering nine goals, 20 assists and 29 points. He also led all Sabres skaters in 2018-19 with three shorthanded points (3A).

The 5-foot-11, 184-pound Rodrigues has suited up for a total of 234 career NHL games split between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, where he’s recorded 34 goals, 52 assists and 86 points. At the AHL level, he has 70 points (23G-47A) in 128 career games with the Rochester Americans. 

Rodrigues originally signed with Buffalo as an undrafted free agent after an exceptional collegiate career with Boston University from 2011-15. Over the course of four seasons, Rodrigues picked up 121 points (42G-79A) in 146 games. He served as an alternate captain for the Terriers in ’14-15, helping them to the NCAA Hockey East Championship. That season, only teammate Jack Eichel (71) finished with more points than Rodrigues’ 61 (21G-40A) in all of D1 college hockey.