Swamp Rabbits add Drake

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings, announced that the team has signed veteran defenseman David Drake to a contract for the 2025-26 season.

Drake comes to the Swamp Rabbits after spending the last four seasons with the Wheeling Nailers. Last season, he dished out 14 assists in 65 games. Drake made 242 appearances for the Nailers since 2021, notching 60 points (6g-54a) along with a +37 rating.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Drake enters his seventh professional season, spending the entirety of his career in North America. Since turning professional in 2018, he’s skated 14 American Hockey League games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Providence Bruins and Rochester Americans, collecting three assists. The bulk of his career has come in the ECHL with Wheeling and Reading, where he’s totaled 84 points (8g-76a) in 378 games along with two points (1g-1a) in 25 Kelly Cup Playoff games.

Before turning pro, Drake played 124 games at the University of Connecticut, serving as an alternate captain in his final two seasons, along with two season with the United States Hockey League’s Des Moines Buccaneers. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the seventh round (192nd overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.