Chris Driedger

Chris Driedger's path to becoming a full-time NHL starter was anything but direct. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 18, 1994, the 6'4" left-catching goaltender was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the third round, 76th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. What followed was a lengthy apprenticeship that included time in the ECHL before he finally broke through at the highest level.

That breakthrough, when it came, was hard to ignore on the stat sheet. Driedger posted a .938 save percentage in 11 games with the Florida Panthers, a performance that announced him as a legitimate NHL presence after years of working his way up through the professional ranks. He backed that up the following season with a .927 save percentage across 23 games — and then, in 2020-21, went 13-6-3 with a .923 save percentage for Florida before being sidelined by a lower body injury ^[1]. That same season, he carried an 11-4-2 record and a .931 save percentage before the injury, numbers that placed him among the league's statistical leaders in certain categories including screen management, according to Clear Sight Analytics data referenced in InGoal's coverage ^[2].

It was during his time with the Panthers that InGoal Magazine developed an extended working relationship with Driedger. InGoal Magazine has covered Chris Driedger in two podcast appearances and six Pro Reads. The first podcast appearance came on Episode 69 of InGoal Radio ^[3], where Driedger spoke at length about what the publication described as an "at-times twisting pro path." A second podcast conversation followed in Episode 187 ^[4].

The Pro Reads series, which began in March 2021 ^[5], gave Driedger a platform to break down his own positioning and decision-making from game footage. In those sessions, he discussed the reasoning behind his habit of playing aggressively above the crease, explaining how he uses a backwards flow to build momentum for cross-crease movement on his skates rather than defaulting to a butterfly slide. He also noted that his approach to screens is deliberately assertive. "I feel confident when I am more aggressive on them," he said in one session. "I just need to make sure I don't get too aggressive and pick my spots. It's something I've always added to my game as I went through my pro career and it makes me feel more confident in the net, so yeah, I try to stay out there and I am not afraid to get out of my paint and make saves and just focus on that shot first and then everything else comes secondary, whether it's a rebound or backdoor play" ^[2].

On recovering to his feet after going down, Driedger was equally direct: "If it's possible to get to my feet, I am getting to my feet every time" ^[2]. On breakaway depth and timing, he described his approach to the hash marks as a reference point: "When he's at the hash marks, I want to be at the top of my crease, toes on crease line. I just try to keep my feet as long as I can, make them make the first move and it's really just all about that initial depth and matching his speed" ^[6].

One detail that surfaced across multiple Pro Reads sessions was Driedger's stick setup — he cuts and holds a shorter paddle, modeled on the approach used by his Florida Panthers partner Sergei Bobrovsky ^[5].

In July 2021, the Seattle Kraken selected Driedger in the NHL expansion draft and signed him to a three-year contract as their No. 1 goaltender ^[7]. With Seattle preparing for the first regular-season game in franchise history in October of that year, InGoal returned to Driedger for a sixth Pro Reads session, working from Panthers footage while awaiting new game clips from his time with the Kraken ^[8].

Across 67 career NHL games, Driedger has compiled a record of 31 wins, 24 losses, and 5 overtime losses, with a 2.45 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. He most recently played for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.