Driedger's path to Panthers took similar route as Binnington's to Blues

Chris Driedger's long path to the NHL with the Florida Panthers is similar to the one Jordan Binnington completed last season with the St. Louis Blues.

Driedger made his first NHL start Nov. 30, nearly 11 months after Binnington's first, on Jan. 7, 2019. Each had a shutout: Binnington made 25 saves in a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers, and Driedger made 27 saves in a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators.

Binnington celebrated his 26th birthday, on July 11, as a Stanley Cup champion. Driedger turns 26 on Monday, and although it would be a stretch to suggest there is a Stanley Cup in his immediate future -- the Panthers were three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus -- Driedger appears at least to have cemented himself as an NHL goalie almost eight years after he was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the third round (No. 76) of the 2012 NHL Draft.

Driedger is 7-2-1 with a .938 save percentage in 12 games during a breakthrough season that has drawn comparisons to Binnington because of the time it took to happen.

"Some crazy coincidences, for sure," Driedger said.

If the timelines match, however, the details do not.

Whereas Binnington refused an assignment to the ECHL in 2017, Driedger accepted the ECHL as a starting point with the Panthers in 2018.

If Binnington's rise was cemented by his firm belief he was ready, Driedger's has roots in a willingness to start again and a renewed work ethic.

Though a lot of slow builds incorrectly are billed as overnight success stories, Driedger points to switching organizations as the start of his turnaround.

The Senators did not give him a qualifying offer after the 2017-18 season, making him an unrestricted free agent, and he signed an American Hockey League contract with Springfield, the Panthers' affiliate, which included an ECHL clause.

"Something did change, but it was more my mindset than anything technical," Driedger said. "I always put in a lot of work over the years and worked on my technical game a lot, worked on a lot of things, but I don't think my buy-in was quite where it needed to be."

Driedger got there with help from Springfield goaltending coach Leo Luongo. It wasn't just the technical adjustments, which included quieting movement by reducing C-cuts, eliminating drifting to get set earlier and being more active with his post play. The way Driedger approached practice helped his growth too.

"We pushed each other to not let up on any little detail in practice," Luongo said. "If he had a bad drill, I'd let him know he has to pick it up. And he knew he needed that. We worked together to win every practice. Not just goalie practices, but team practices as well."

The latter was a big change for Driedger, who used to get frustrated by the numerous elements of team practices that focused on forwards at the expense of the goalie.

"Like, 'What are these guys thinking? They didn't even consider the goalie,' and you get all rattled and worked up and next thing you know, you are barely trying," Driedger said. "That's toxic."

Now he focuses on a specific skill when drills aren't goalie-friendly, like making sure he beats a pass on his feet and gets square when there's lots of passing that ends with a point-black chance in the slot, rather than worrying too much about saves and playing out rebounds that would make it impossible to be set for the next shot.

And he always battles.

"Turns out teams don't like goalies that don't try in practice," he said with a laugh. "Not that I wouldn't try, but if you show extra battle on rebounds and not give up after a couple backdoor passes in a row, if they see a guy battling, making sprawling saves, coaches know this guy is fighting to keep the puck out of the net, and that's good. That mindset going into practice is the single biggest difference in my game and my day to day versus my time in Ottawa."

Driedger started last season with Manchester of the ECHL, fifth on the Panthers' depth chart. It was a demotion he had balked at in 2017-18 with Ottawa.

But he was called up to the AHL last season after 12 games, had a .924 save percentage in 32 games with Springfield, and signed an NHL contract with the Panthers on Feb. 24, 2019, nearly two months into Binnington's run with the Blues.

With the Panthers signing Sergei Bobrovsky to a seven-year contract July 1 to go with Sam Montembeault, Driedger began this season in the AHL. He was called up Nov. 25 and went 5-2-0 before a groin injury Jan. 16 sidelined him for six weeks.

Driedger returned March 5 and went 2-0-1 with a .955 save percentage, including 26 saves in a 2-1 win against Binnington and the Blues on March 9. Two months later, Driedger isn't lamenting his breakthrough being disrupted by the pause.

He's learned not to worry about things he can't control.

Instead, he takes confidence in playing so well after missing so much time with injury and is focused on maintaining the renewed work ethic that finally got him to the NHL.

"There's only 62 [NHL goalie] jobs," Driedger said. "I've realized that doesn't leave room for guys that aren't giving it their all."