The ECHL has been a valuable league in helping young goaltenders transition to professional hockey, and Ryan Bednard’s trajectory with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits is encouraging.

Bednard, 24, improved his overall numbers in each of three seasons with the NCAA’s Bowling Green Falcons from 2016-2019. As his workload increased annually, his win record and save percentage climbed in tow and his goals-against average simultaneously dipped.

His development added to the backbone of a Falcons team making its way out of WCHA mediocrity just before starting his tenure in Bowling Green. His progress in the NCAA caught the eye of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, which inked him to an entry-level deal in the spring of 2019 following his junior collegiate season.

Bednard struggled to translate his game to the AHL as a rookie in 2019-20, going 4-3 with a 3.28 GAA and .899 SV% in eight games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. But Bednard regrouped in the ECHL, posting improved numbers over a 24-game span that earned him a 10-12-1 record on the heels of a 2.99 GAA and .908 SV%.

His numbers weren’t league-capturing or place him in contention for any special recognition, but his confidence was growing and he played a vital role in Greenville’s climb out of a third straight bottom-out in the South Division in 2019-20.

Bednard’s game was improved enough that when the ECHL canceled the 2019-20 season last spring, the Swamp Rabbits sat at third in their division and despite being one game under .500, their goalie carried them to legitimate contention for the postseason.

This year, the playoffs are again within the Rabbits’ scope as they sit second in the Eastern Conference with a 29-17-11-3 record and fifth-best win percentage in the league.

Bednard has played a significant role in the Swamp Rabbits’ rise. Greenville has missed the playoffs in five of the past six seasons — losing a first-round series, 4-2, to the South Carolina Stingrays in 2017 as the lone playoff trip in that span.

The Michigan native leads the ECHL with four shutouts and 19 wins, sits fourth with a 2.46 GAA, and fifth with a .916 SV% all while playing the second-most minutes among all netminders this season.

He’s once again showing that he can handle an increased workload while maintaining league-topping stats. Add in his Swamp Rabbits’ defense allowing the fourth-most shots against in the ECHL and Bednard’s season is nothing to balk at.

Bednard is on a current call-up with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, courtesy of Florida, where he’s put his growth on full display with a 1-1 record, 2.46 GAA, and .915 SV%. It is a small sample size, but he’s come a long way from that tough rookie stint in 2019-20.

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Congratulations to Ryan Bednard on a stellar performance last night, helping the @SyracuseCrunch to a 5-2 win over Utica with 36 saves! #RabbitsRising pic.twitter.com/6wKjn4PVKm

— Greenville Swamp Rabbits (@SwampRabbits) May 3, 2021

Beyond 2020-21

With the Panthers having Sergei Bobrovsky, Chris Driedger, and Spencer Knight all somewhere on the NHL radar, Bednard is still likely several consistent years away from an NHL debut.

With Knight being the organization’s expected future No. 1 and Bobrovsky locked in for six more years, he has an uphill battle for an NHL future in Florida.

But with Driedger as the odd man out and having pricing himself out of a future with the Panthers due to his impressive play, Bednard’s current competition at the No. 1 role with the Thunderbirds in 2021-22 is lacking.

With NHL goalies typically peaking around the age of 30, Bednard has a good chunk of time to continue his professional growth. When his stint eventually ends with the Crunch, he’ll go back to leading the Swamp Rabbits into the future and focusing on the ECHL playoffs.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.