Ty Taylor is packing his bags for Florida after being selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft.
The soon-to-be 19-year-old goaltender will be heading to the Lightning’s Development Camp which starts on Tuesday and wraps up Saturday, featuring the club’s top prospects.
It’s icing on the cake for a fantastic sophomore season with the Vernon Vipers which saw Taylor named the B.C. Hockey League’s top goaltender thanks to a sparkling 1.87 goals against average, .931 save percentage and seven shutouts in 31 games. He also earned a full-ride NCAA Division One scholarship to the University of New Hampshire.
Taylor had been regularly training in recent weeks, fully aware an appearance at development camp would be on the horizon should he be drafted.
“Obviously, I’m still trying to get better every day but I also realized I better be prepared too. Now, I’m really glad I was working out,” said Taylor. “I’m just really pleased with how everything has worked out and I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. It’s just nice to see all the work I have put in has paid off and I just want to keep improving.”
Taylor, listed at 6-foot-3 and 196-pounds, had talked to several NHL teams prior to the draft including the Lightning.
He was watching the proceedings unfold from Dallas at his family home in Steveston when the TV broadcast went into a commercial break just a few picks from the draft’s conclusion. That’s when he got a text telling him the Lightning had taken him 214th overall. He is the first player from Richmond since 2018 WHL playoff MVP Glenn Gawdin was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft.
“At that point you’re thinking you’re not going to get drafted so I can’t say I was nervous. Then I got the text and it was almost surreal. My phone started going crazy afterwards,” said Taylor.
After coming through Seafair’s rep system, Taylor spent a year at the Delta Hockey Academy with its midget prep team. He was penciled in to be with the Richmond Sockeyes the following season but was invited to the Vipers’ training camp and never returned. His BCHL rookie campaign got the attention of NHL scouts and a spectacular second-season had him ranked among the top North American goaltenders by the Central Scouting Bureau.
“I was able to take the ball and run with it,” added Taylor. “When I left midget my goal was to play junior ‘A’ then it was to get an NCAA scholarship.”
Now throw an NHL draftee onto the growing list of achievements.
He is among nine players in New Hampshire’s recruiting class and is slated to leave for the Durham school on Aug. 21.
