Penguins A to Z: Evan Rodrigues' versatility will determine his value

With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 48 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Evan Rodrigues

Position: Center

Shoots: Right

Age: 27

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 184 pounds

2020-21 NHL statistics: 35 games, 14 points (seven goals, seven assists)

Contract: One-year contract with a salary cap hit of $700,000. Pending unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Acquired: Free agent signing, Oct. 9, 2020

2020-21 season: Something funny happened to Evan Rodrigues before he could enter his first full season as a member of the Penguins.

He got traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Or at least his signing rights did.

Originally acquired by the Penguins at the 2020 trade deadline in late February of that year, Rodrigues filled a variety of holes in the Penguins’ lineup when injuries pockmarked their forward ranks.

Penguins management seemed happy with what Rodrigues could offer as he entered the 2020 offseason as a restricted free agent. But given his previous salary cap hit of $2 million, former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford shipped Rodrigues to Toronto as part of a multi-player trade that brought forward Kasperi Kapanen back to Pittsburgh on Aug. 25.

The Maple Leafs opted to not extend a qualifying offer to Rodrigues, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.

Two weeks later, Rodrigues re-signed with the Penguins for the league minimum.

Oddly enough, with Kapanen’s arrival in Pittsburgh delayed due to a visa issue related to the pandemic, Rodrigues replaced him on the top line to open the season. Before being injured on Jan. 24, Rodrigues skated in six games on the first line and scored one goal.

Rodrigues’ undisclosed injury cost him 16 games and sidelined him until March 6. The timing of his return to the lineup coincided with the start of an outbreak of injuries to the Penguins’ other forwards including Teddy Blueger, Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Tanev, Jason Zucker and others.

As a result, Rodrigues found himself filling a variety of roles in all three forward positions on the bottom three lines. Between March 6 and April 29, Rodrigues appeared in 29 games and posted 13 points (six goals, seven assists).

Rodrigues’ regular season came to an end on April 29 due to a left ankle injury that sidelined him for five games.

With Malkin out with a right knee injury, Rodrigues opened the postseason on the third line for the first two games of the Penguins’ first-round loss to the New York Islanders. After recording one assist, he was scratched for the final four games after Malkin returned.

The future: Rodrigues was left off the list of protected players the Penguins submitted to the NHL on Saturday for Wednesday’s expansion draft. Given his limited skill set, it is difficult to see the Seattle Kraken selecting him.

As far as his pending free agent status is concerned, Rodrigues isn’t the Penguins’ leading priority and they could very well allow him to enter the free agent signing period — which opens on July 28 — without making an offer.

That’s not to say Rodrigues doesn’t have value to the team. His malleability is easily his most prominent attribute and given how rarely the Penguins seem to have their 20 best players available to them, Rodrigues has proven very useful. And he appears to have earned the trust of coach Mike Sullivan in a variety of situations.

Wherever Rodrigues plays next season, his versatility will determine his value.

Follow the Penguins all season long.