Another Penguins forward appears on his way out of town

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the verge of bidding goodbye to popular and longtime forward Evgeni Malkin, who played a major role in each of Pittsburgh's most recent three Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017. 

And now, it looks as though they'll also be waving goodbye to another top-6 forward. According to a source, Evan Rodrigues, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, “is gonna look around”. 

He appeared in all 82 regular season games for the Penguins last season, scoring 19 goals and 24 assists. He would later add another three goals and two assists in Pittsburgh's seven game postseason loss to the New York Rangers, during which he drew the wrath of head coach Mike Sullivan with a costly penalty in Game 6 at PPG Paints Arena; fans still remember the infamous death stare that Sullivan glared at Rodriguez with as he skated back to the bench from the box. 

After signing as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Sabres, Rodrigues would be acquired by the Penguins along with Conor Sheary from  Dominik Kahun in a February 2020 trade. He would once again be on the move to Toronto in the deal that saw Kasperi Kapanen land with the Penguins, but he'd return after being unable to come to terms with the Leafs. 

According to NHL Trade Rumors, the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Calgary Flames are all viable options to land his services. He's coming off a one year, $1 million contract signed last offseason.