Greenville, S.C. — As so many teams around the ECHL are signing players and fortifying their 2024 season roster, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits have finally made a player signing. Yesterday, July 17, the club announced via social media that they would announce the first player signing for next season. This comes after they made qualifying offers to eight players. However, none of whom made the cut for the first signing, as today they’ve announced that rookie forward Austin Saint will be rejoining the Rabbits’ roster next season.
Saint, 22, joined pro hockey last season as he completed two seasons for Royal Military College of USports. He would play his first professional game in the Coast (ECHL) on February 17 for the Rabbits against the Atlanta Gladiators, where he would shine bright and end up scoring his first pro goal. It was an impressive start for the young forward who shoots right, despite only getting a few minutes of ice time under the fourth line with another rookie player, Cole Donhauser — he would still speed through the lanes at high speeds and chip away, sauce, and make any plays on net whenever he got the chance. However, because of his incredible performance in his first game, he would get more and more ice time as the games went by. After eight games played in the regular season, Saint tallied up 4G/1A for five points. But on that eighth game in Orlando, Saint would take a heavy but awkward check into the boards and be laboring in pain, holding his arm while skating over to the bench. Little did he want it; this would be his last game of the season.
Saint had a solid collegiate career despite only playing two seasons in USports. First, beginning in the 2022-23 season, he would play 26 games, tallying up 12 goals and seven assists. For his final season for Royal Military College, Saint played 28 games and recorded 33 points from 18 goals/15 assists. Prior to advancing to the collegiate level, the Bonnyville, Alberta native had a long career in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL of the CJHL), as he would play five seasons there – with the majority of his ice time being for the Bonnyville Pontiacs. In total, Saint played 94 games and recorded 57 points (31 goals + 26 assists) for five seasons in the AJHL — between that time, he would also play seven games (12 points for 6 goals and 6 assists) in the NEAJBHL.
