GREENVILLE, S.C. — As the ECHL 2024-25 season is less than a week away, the league has seen some trades from teams looking to allocate and manage their roster, as the season starting roster is due by this Wednesday (Oct. 16).
Today, Oct. 14, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits announced that they have traded their star goaltender Luke Richardson to the Wheeling Nailers in exchange for Mikael Robidoux.
The trade comes after the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League (AHL) sent down two goaltenders, Jacob Ingham and Dryden McKay, to Greenville.
Last season, the Swamp Rabbits had benched Richardson for the majority of the season. This was because the team had two goalies sent down from Ontario. The young 6-foot-4 ‘tendy from Barrie, Ontario, played in only 12 regular-season games for the team but posted a 7-1-1 record with a 2.19 goals-against average (GAA) and a .931 save percentage (SV%).
It goes without saying that this was the correct move for the Rabbits and Richardson. Richardson has the skill set and ambition to play a full season but didn’t quite have that opportunity with the Swamp Rabbits’ organization. He’ll now be under the Pittsburg Penguins organization, where he was actually exposed to them during the 2024 offseason.
Before the start of preseason, Richardson participated in the Penguins training camp on a professional tryout (PTO) and was later sent down to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. He ended up playing two periods during the Swamp Rabbits’ only preseason game on Oct. 9 against the South Carolina Stingrays.
About Robidoux
Now, for the newly acquired forward, Mikael Robidoux, the right winger will be entering his fifth season in the ECHL. Robidoux, 25, 5-foot-11, and 201 pounds, shoots right. A native of La Prairie, Quebec, Robidoux played for the Allen Americans during last season, where he accumulated seven goals and five assists in 41 games played; along with recording 176 penalty minutes.
For four seasons in the “Coast,” the big-body winger has participated in 136 games with 34 points tallied—16 goals and 18 assists. Now, Robidoux isn’t a high-scoring player, but he can offer physicality and the willingness to drop the mitts from time to time. He is a replacement for Mark Louis, the Swamp Rabbits’ big-bodied player during last season.
The Swamp Rabbits will begin the regular season on Oct. 18 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, as they will host their division rivals, the Orlando Solar Bears.
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