‘Super smart’ Rodrigues nets 2 as Panthers roll
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
SUNRISE, Fla. — After two games in the Stanley Cup Final, both Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Niko Mikkola have scored more goals than Edmonton Oilers stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman … combined.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the series on Monday night with a 4-1 win over the Oilers that was powered by two unsung members of their supporting cast. Rodrigues scored twice, giving him three goals in the Final. Mikkola scored a critical goal to tie the game in the second period, for only the second playoff goal of his career.
“It’s special. You try to embrace it, try to stay in the moment. It’s two big wins for our team. And I think we’ve already turned the page and we’re getting ready for Game 3,” Rodrigues said.
Florida coach Paul Maurice watched another brilliant defensive effort from his team in the victory: Not yielding anything against the heralded Edmonton power play, not allowing a single high-danger shot attempt at 5-on-5, keeping Edmonton’s stars without a goal and relying on goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (18 saves) to be the last line of defense.
But when Maurice needed goals, Rodrigues and Mikkola provided them.
“We play tight games. We’ve always played tight, hard games. We don’t necessarily score easily. That’s not a function of skill or talent,” the coach said.
Rodrigues, 30, is a nine-year NHL veteran who signed a four-year, $12 million deal with the Panthers as a free agent last summer. An analytics darling during his career with the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche, he had 12 goals and 27 assists in 80 games for the Panthers this season.
His goal in Game 1 was a one-timer past netminder Stuart Skinner, set up by a pass from behind the net by center Sam Bennett, that built a 2-0 lead for the Panthers.
Game 2 started with Rodrigues delivering a punishing hit on the forecheck against Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, who immediately grabbed his side in discomfort just four shifts into the game. Nurse would return in the second period, but he had only three shifts for the rest of the night.
Rodrigues’ first goal in Game 2 came at 3:11 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie — and it was a score that might have been linked to Nurse’s injury.
Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard played 30:40 in Game 2 because Nurse was hurt. The typically steady defenseman made a glaring mistake, however, attempting to clear the puck from the Edmonton zone only to have it land directly on the stick blade of Rodrigues.
“I got in on the forecheck. Tried to make a play. Almost got myself in a little bit of a pickle trying to look to make a play versus moving my feet,” Rodrigues said. “Then the puck came back to me, and I wasn’t making that mistake again. So, I just kind of fired it on net, and it went through a couple legs. Obviously, really happy to see it go in.”
His second goal came on the power play at 12:26 of the third period. Bouchard was again victimized, this time by an Anton Lundell pass to Rodrigues, who tipped the puck past Skinner for a critical insurance goal.
That ended a streak of 34 straight successful penalty kills for the Oilers, tied with the 2001 St. Louis Blues for the third-longest such streak in Stanley Cup playoffs history.
Rodrigues became the first player in Panthers history with a multiple-goal game in the Stanley Cup Final. His three goals in the Final equals his total through the first three rounds this year.
His performance earned Rodrigues time on the Panthers’ top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, as winger Carter Verhaeghe “kind of needs to change your address every once in a while,” according to Maurice. His performance also earned accolades from his teammates.
“So good, so happy for him. Proud of him. He reads the game so well. He’s a super smart player and I’m really happy to see him get rewarded right now,” winger Matthew Tkachuk said.
“I think he’s a bit of a chameleon,” forward Kyle Okposo said. “I think if you look at the teams that he’s played on and who he’s played with, it’s not an easy thing to go play with some of the top players in the world.”
As for Mikkola, his game-tying goal was quite an adventure.
The 6-foot-4 Finn had the puck in his own zone with Edmonton’s Evander Kane bearing down on him. Mikkola spun around and flung the puck … directly at his own goaltender Bobrovsky, who alertly knocked it away. Mikkola shook his head to acknowledge the blunder and then skated up ice.
“I tried to do defenseman-to-defenseman pass. Bobby was awake, which was good for us,” said Mikkola, drawing laugher after the game. “And the rest was nice.”
Moments later, Lundell stickhandled in the Oilers zone and dropped a pass to a trailing Mikkola who blasted a one-timer past goalie Skinner for the tie.
“Even if we were down one goal, everybody was calm and trusting the process,” Mikkola said. “I was little lucky. Got the one through.”
Mikkola, 28, was another free-agent coup for GM Bill Zito, signing a 3-year, $7.5-million deal. Almost a year later, he’s a major reason the Panthers are up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final is Thursday in Edmonton. Since the Stanley Cup Final first went to a 7-game format in 1939, only 5 teams have come back to win a Final after losing the first two games.
South Korean infielder Sung-mun Song and the San Diego Padres finalized a $15 million, four-year contract on Sunday.
Song will receive a $1 million signing bonus in two equal installments, in 30 days and on Jan. 15, 2027, and salaries of $2.5 million next year, $3 million in 2027 and $3.5 million in 2028.
Song’s deal includes a $4 million player option for 2029 and a $7 million mutual option for 2030 with a $1 million buyout.
If Song wins a Rookie of the Year award, his salary the following season would escalate by $1 million. If he finishes among the top five in MVP voting, his salary in all remaining years of the contract would increase by $1 million each.
He will be a free agent at the end of the contract, and the team will pay for an interpreter and round trip airline tickets from South Korea.
Song hit .315 with a career-high 26 homers and 90 RBIs this year for South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes. Primarily a third baseman, the 29-year-old left-handed hitter has a .284 average with 80 homers and 454 RBIs in nine seasons with Nexen (2015, 2017-19) and Kiwoom (2021-25).
Under MLB’s posting agreement with the Korean Baseball Organization League, the Padres will pay the Heroes a $3 million posting fee. San Diego would owe a supplemental fee of 15% of any escalators triggered.
Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami is joining the Chicago White Sox, landing the home run record-setter in Nippon Professional Baseball with a rebuilding team making its first free agent splash in years.
The White Sox announced Murakami’s addition Sunday, with sources telling ESPN the sides agreed on a two-year, $34 million contract.
Murakami, 25, was arguably the most fascinating player to hit free agency this winter. A 6-foot-2, 230-pound left-handed slugger with elite exit velocity, he was the youngest player on the market, and he now heads to Major League Baseball with 246 home runs in his eight seasons for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
He has been a star in Japan since he hit 36 home runs as a 19-year-old in 2019. He followed that up with 56 home runs in 2022, breaking the record for a Japan-born player set in 1964 by Sadaharu Oh. Murakami, a two-time Central League MVP, missed time last season with an oblique injury but hit 22 home runs in 56 games with a .273/.379/.663 slash line.
While projections for Murakami to hit a financial jackpot preceded his free agency, concerns about his defense — he can play third base or first base — and his propensity to swing and miss at pitches in the zone caused a slower market than anticipated ahead of his 5 p.m. ET Monday deadline to sign.
Though teams tried to get in for lower-dollar long-term deals, Murakami opted for a higher-dollar short-term offering, allowing himself to prove his ability to adjust to superior MLB pitching.
Should he do so, Murakami would hit the market again at 27 and be primed to cash in on a megadeal, similar to how other free agents in recent seasons with softer-than-expected markets parlayed short-term contracts into long-term paydays.
The leap in Murakami’s strikeout rate over the past three years (over 28% each season) and his 72.6% in-zone contact rate (would have been second lowest in MLB this year) illustrate the potential downside in his offensive game. But San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers remains productive with a high whiff rate, and Chicago saw the opportunity to bring in the sort of talent it typically does not have access to with a low payroll and a prospect-hoarding mentality.
Murakami’s 90th-percentile exit velocity would have been fifth in MLB, his maximum exit velocity 12th and his hard-hit rate first. For a White Sox team two years removed from the most losses in MLB history, adding Murakami to a lineup that includes promising young hitters in shortstop Colson Montgomery, catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, infielder Miguel Vargas, and second baseman Chase Meidroth brings even more hope after winning the draft lottery at the winter meetings.
The overwhelming favorite to go No. 1 in the July draft is UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, giving the White Sox a potential abundance of young infielders in the coming years.
Whether Murakami is manning first or third, he will be in the middle of a White Sox lineup in desperate need of power. With 165 home runs last season, the White Sox finished 14th of 15 American League teams, just ahead of the Kansas City Royals. In his eight seasons with the Swallows following his debut as an 18-year-old, Murakami hit .270/.394/.557 with a walk rate of greater than 16% and a strikeout rate nearing 26%.
Highlight reels of his home runs have long circulated on the internet in anticipation of Murakami’s arrival in MLB. He played a vital role in Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, hammering a game-winning two-run double in the ninth inning of a semifinal win against Mexico.
Chicago saw that version of Murakami and will add him to perhaps the most uniquely constructed roster in baseball, with five players signed — Murakami, Luis Robert Jr. ($20 million), Andrew Benintendi ($17.1 million), Anthony Kay ($5 million) and Derek Hill ($900,000) — none eligible for arbitration and the remainder making around the major league minimum.
Murakami’s deal will cost the White Sox $40.575 million in total, with the Swallows receiving a $6.575 million posting fee to transfer him to Chicago.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
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