Evan Rodrigues: Avalanche “Just Kind Of Seemed Like Perfect Fit For Me” (+)

Evan Rodrigues got into town on Thursday night, and by the next day was on the ice with some of his new Colorado Avalanche teammates. By Saturday, he got himself a new car and soon, when his wife, Christie and sons Grayson and Noah arrive in a few days from back East, they’ll start to do some looking around for a place to live.

“The last couple of days, it’s definitely been a whirlwind,” Rodrigues said in a phone conversation with Colorado Hockey Now. “But, in a good way. This is a beautiful city.”

After a long summer of uncertainty as to where he might play, the unrestricted free agent Rodrigues last week signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Avalanche. Why did it take so long? Well, it mostly boils down to this: The Avalanche were waiting to hear for sure that Nazem Kadri was no longer a possiblity to come back, and Rodrigues always had the Avalanche high on his wish list. When Kadri finally signed with the Calgary Flames, things got a lot more serious between the Avalanche and Rodrigues and, voila, a new deal was cemented in place.

Rodrigues, 29,  and who will wear No. 9 with the Avalanche this season, probably could have gotten more money elsewhere. More term, too. But he wanted to play for a winner and, while he wouldn’t put it quite that way, this could be a year where he’s really betting on himself for a more lucrative contract down the road.

“It kind of just seemed like the perfect fit for me. I just want to come in here and contribute and help us keep winning,” Rodrigues said. “I know the expectations here are high, and that’s how I like it.”

Rodrigues, who played four years at Boston University on the same team with Jack Eichel, and later with Eichel on the Buffalo Sabres, had something of a career season in 2021-22, with 19 goals and 43 points in 82 games, along with three goals and five points in seven playoff games. When injuries happened to some top-six forwards such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust, Rodrigues was given more ice time at center by coach Mike Sullivan, and he responded. It was pretty much the first time in his career that he got any extended time as a top-six forward.

“Obviously, I think that was a factor (in the higher scoring numbers),” Rodrigues said. “I’ve always believed in myself that I could do more when given the chance. I just have to keep that going.”

He should have good chances to score on this Avalanche team, all right. While no lines have been formulated yet by coach Jared Bednar, it’s expected that Rodrigues will be given a great chance to win the second-line center job vacated by Kadri. Rodrigues already knows he can handle one thing: playing No. 2 center on a team with a future Hall of Famer from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, ahead of him. That’s where new teammate Nathan MacKinnon is from, and where Sidney Crosby also hails.

On what it was like to play with Crosby, Rodrigues said: “A really good person. Treats rookies the same way he treats guys like Malkin and (Kris) Letang. Everybody talks about his work habits and it’s true. He’s always trying to work on his game, even still, and he makes everybody around him better. He made me better, for sure.”

Rodrigues, whose parents have Portuguese descent but was born in Toronto, said he will play wherever Bednar wants him to play. That’s expected to be at center, though he has played some wing before in his career too.

He said he really started to believe he could make it as a pro hockey player after his sophomore season at BU in 2012-13, when he posted 34 points in 38 games after a tough freshman year. As a senior, he had 61 points in 41 games and then signed as an undrafted free agent with the Sabres in 2015.

He was a depth forward with the Sabres for parts of five seasons before going to the Penguins at the trade deadline in 2020. Now, he’s a likely top-six forward for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

“I’m fortunate to be here, and I know I have to just keep working hard and hopefully good things will happen,” he said.