Evan Rodrigues is headed to New Jersey as the Florida Panthers near a five-player trade for Jacob Markstrom. The deal would send Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Ben Steeves to New Jersey and bring Markstrom and Angus Crookshank to Florida.
The trade is built around a goalie with a contract still carrying a $6 million cap hit. Markstrom signed a two-year, $12 million contract with New Jersey in October 2025, and no salary was retained on that deal.
Markstrom’s Florida return
Markstrom would be back in Florida after beginning his career there with four seasons. In that earlier stretch, he posted 11 wins and a.898 save percentage in 43 games.
This version of the move comes after a rougher season for him in New Jersey. He finished with 23 wins and a.883 save percentage in 44 appearances, a drop from the back-to-back seasons north of.900 that came before it.
Rodrigues and the other pieces
Rodrigues is one year from the end of his contract, and so are Boqvist and Crookshank. Steeves is set to become a restricted free agent, which gives New Jersey a different kind of control over his rights than the three players with one season left.
The Panthers also acquired Akira Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, another move that points to the crease being rebuilt quickly. Sergei Bobrovsky is set to hit the open market on Wednesday, so Florida has already started lining up its next layer of goaltending before this trade is even official.
Markstrom’s peak season
There is still a reason Florida wants the 36-year-old. Markstrom’s 2021-22 season with the Calgary Flames produced 37 wins, a.922 save percentage and nine shutouts, and he finished as a Vezina Trophy runner-up behind Igor Shesterkin.
That gap between peak form and the 2025-26 numbers is the trade’s whole edge. Florida is betting on the older version, while New Jersey uses the package to move three roster players and keep the contract structure clean.
For now, the move sits near the finish line rather than on it. Rodrigues is the most visible player going the other way, and if the Panthers complete the trade as reported, their crease plan changes immediately.
