Rush add Peterson, Rodriguez

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Rush, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes, announced that forwards Avery Peterson and Alex Rodriguez have signed contracts for the 2020-21 season.

Peterson comes to the Rush following after spending 2019-20 campaign with the Atlanta Gladiators. He registered career-highs in every category with 16 goals, 13 assists and 29 points in 51 games.

A native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Peterson enters his third season of professional hockey, having skated in 92 ECHL contests with the Gladiators, Idaho Steelheads, Norfolk Admirals and Indy Fuel, amassing 44 points (20g-24a). Prior to playing professionally, Peterson played college hockey at the University of Nebraska-Omaha (2014-16) and the University of Minnesota-Duluth (2016-18), earning 48 points (24g-24a) in 108 games. With UNO, Peterson was selected to the 2015 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team in addition to winning the 2017 NCHC championship. While at UMD, he won the 2018 NCAA National Championship. Peterson was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round (167th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Rodriguez joins the Rush after completing his rookie season with the Norfolk Admirals where he recorded 29 points (16g-13a) in 58 games, finishing as the Admirals second-leading scorer.

A native of Miami, Florida, Rodriguez turned professional in the 2018-19 season with Norfolk following his college career. Before turning pro, Rodriguez played four seasons of college hockey with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Augsburg University. With Augsburg, he was a standout in his 2018-19 senior season, earning 40 points (21g-19a) in 26 games. That year, he was named to the AHCA First All-American Team, All-USCHO Second Team, MIAC All-Conference Team, and won the MIAC Championship.