Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues is undergoing surgery to repair his broken finger and will not return this season, head coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now).
Rodrigues hasn’t played since March 26 against the Wild. He left that game after his first shift with the fracture and didn’t return. Maurice said he assumed Rodrigues’ season was over after the fact, but was still awaiting confirmation of whether he’d need surgery.
With nothing left to play for, there likely wasn’t any hesitation to opt for surgery on both ends. The Panthers aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yet, but sitting 15 points out with nine games to go, while on a three-game losing streak, their season will end in April for the first time since 2019.
Injuries were really the only storyline in Sunrise this season. Rodrigues’ year will end with a comparably respectable 69 games played that could still very well end up being top 10 on the team when all is said and done. The 32-year-old did his part to step up in the absence of multiple top-six names, putting up an 11-20–31 scoring line. That goal output is his lowest at face value since the 2020-21 campaign, but his 0.45 points per game is right in line with his career average and a step up from last season’s 0.39, his worst as a Panther.
Rodrigues will be eligible to sign an extension on July 1. He will be entering the final season of the four-year, $12MM contract he signed with Florida as a free agent in 2023.