The odds have always been in Matthew Wedman’s favor that the legacy he leaves on the ice will be a good one.

Now in his first professional season with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the 21-year-old center is off to a good start as a member of the Florida Panthers organization, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2019 National Hockey League Entry Draft after a prolific five-year run in juniors split between the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds.

But it was during his time in Seattle that he also learned the importance of making his mark off the ice as well. It was there where he got to work with T-Birds assistant coach Kyle Hagel, a former Princeton University standout and American Hockey League stalwart who was a seven-time winner of the AHL’s prestigious Man of the Year Award.

“He showed me the ropes and showed me what it means to give back to the community, and what that means for them,” Wedman told FloHockey.

Hagel and Wedman started a reading program for underprivileged kindergartners, where they’d go read books to four different classrooms within the community.

“The kids were awesome,” Wedman said. “They’d ask a lot of questions, and they were fun to chat with, but it was great to bring sort of a role model into their lives that they might not ordinarily have. Their eyes would light up. They didn’t know too much about hockey quite yet, but they were just glad to see the pictures in the books and hear me talk about getting to play.”

Given the current pandemic and the restrictions the league has on players and teams for social gatherings, and it’s been difficult for Wedman to try to make a similar impact with the Swamp Rabbits. However, the team took part in a Habitat for Humanity, and Wedman says he’s tried harder to interact on social media with fans as well.

There’s certainly been no shortage of things to ask about, especially on the ice.

The Edmonton native has potted seven points on four goals and three assists in his first 20 games this season as he continues to make the adjustment to the pro game.

“It’s been a crazy year,” he said. “I spent the summer training with Florida, and then they told me to come here to Greenville to start the year. I was really excited to get playing, and it was around the time when really nobody was playing hockey. It was nice to get back on the ice and get to my feet wet in pro hockey. It’s been a fun experience. Big learning curve, but I think I’m starting to pick what the tendencies of pro hockey are like.”

Perhaps the biggest part of that learning curve for the 6-foot-3, 196-pounder is learning how to use that big frame more effectively against older, more experienced players.

“These are men in this league,” Wedman said. “I’m used to playing against younger guys in juniors, so I can’t quite use my size as much as I used to. That’s been adjustment, playing against bigger, stronger guys. But, I think I’m fitting right in. That comes with confidence from playing more and just using that size to my advantage. I can battle with these guys like the rest of them, I just need to realize that I do have that big frame, and I can use it.”

With the Charlotte Checkers having opted out of the AHL for this season, and the parent Panthers organization wanting to leave their prospects in Greenville this season, Wedman has been able to solely focus on being able to better round out his game as he strives to one day become an NHL regular in Florida.

“I might not be a top-line guy in the NHL one day, but I’m hoping to be an energy guy that can kill penalties, block shots and play wherever the coaches need me,” he said. “Florida and Charlotte have given me a lot of feedback, so it’s been good to have a lot of those hockey minds giving me advice.”

Mike Ashmore has 17 years of experience covering professional and college sports. You can follow him on all social media channels at @mashmore98.