The New Jersey Devils announced today that the team has acquired forwards Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Ben Steeves from Florida in exchange for goaltender Jacob Markstrom and forward Angus Crookshank. The announcement was made by General Manager Sunny Mehta.
Rodrigues, 32, recorded 31 points (11g-20a) in 69 games with Florida last season. He played the last three years in Florida and was a member of the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup Championship teams. Rodrigues has one year left on a four-year contract with a cap hit of $3,075,000.
The 5’11”, 185lbs. right-handed shot has totaled 270 career points (107g-163a) with 217 penalty minutes in 616 NHL games over 11 seasons since he made his NHL debut with Buffalo on April 8, 2016. He spent parts of five seasons with Buffalo, 2015-16 to 2019-20, before he was traded with Conor Sheary to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Dominik Kahun on Feb. 24, 2020. He played seven games (1g) with Pittsburgh to close out 2019-20, and in the off-season was traded with David Warsofsky, Filip Hallander, and a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Aug. 25, 2020. He re-signed with Pittsburgh as an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9, 2020.
After two seasons in Pittsburgh, Rodrigues signed as a free agent with Colorado on September 12, 2022. He spent one season with the Avalanche before signing as a free agent with the Panthers on July 2, 2023. Florida.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, on July 28, 1993, Rodrigues signed with Buffalo as an undrafted free agent out of Boston University on April 22, 2015. He played four seasons at Boston University, 2011-12 to 2014-15, where he scored 121 points (42 goals, 79 assists) in 146 games. As a senior in 2014-15, he scored 61 points (21 goals, 40 assists) in 41 games to finish second in NCAA scoring to linemate Jack Eichel. He was named to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team that year, the second such time he was named (also 2012-13).
Boqvist, 27, played the last two seasons in Florida and was a member of the Panthers 2025 Stanley Cup Championship team. He’s played 387 career regular-season NHL games over seven seasons, scoring 105 points (50g-55a) with 60 penalty minutes. The 6’0”, 190 lbs. left shot added six points (2g-4a) in 27 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. Born in Falun, Sweden, on Oct. 30, 1998, Boqvist was New Jersey’s second-round selection, 36th overall, in the 2017 NHL Draft. He played four seasons in New Jersey, 2019-20 to 2022-23, scoring 55 points (28g-27a) in 189 regular-season games and appeared in three games during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Steeves, 24, spent the last two-plus seasons with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte. Last year, he scored 45 points (23g-22a) with 100 penalty minutes. The 5’9”, 170lbs. winger was signed as an undrafted free agent by Florida on March 25, 2024, out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In two collegiate seasons, the left shot scored 62 points (45g-17a) in 72 games. The Bedford, NH, native was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team and NCHC Honorable Mention All-Star Team in 2002-03 and to the NCHC Second All-Star Team in 2023-24.
Markstrom played the last two seasons in New Jersey after being acquired from Calgary on June 19, 2024. Crookshank played last season with Utica (60 games) and New Jersey (8 games).
