Player's Profile
- Name: Danny Taylor
- Position: G
- Catches: Left
- Height: 6-1
- Weight: 177 lbs
- Birthdate: 1986-04-28
- Eligible for Draft: 2004
- Drafted:
- Hometown: Plymouth, United Kingdom
- Acquired:
- Playing In: Pro
Danny Taylor
Prospect Grade: 6.0 D (About Prospect Grades)
Profile Contributed By: HF Staff
History
The Los Angeles Kings brought into the organization a British goaltender for the second time in their history - having selected Daniel Taylor in the 7th round of the 2004 Entry Draft. Taylor was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom, but was playing for Guelph of the OHL when drafted.
Solid while in major juniors, Taylor joined the Kings and struggled immensely to keep the puck out of the net in his first season in the ECHL. He has since made the changes necessary to compete at higher levels of hockey and his performance with Manchester during the 2007-08 season is a direct result.
2003-04: Starred as the back-up goaltender for the Champion Guelph Storm while posting a stellar 16-4-3 mark. Stuck behind a championship starting goaltender, hopefully Taylor will find himself in a situation where he will receive more ice-time soon. Turned in an excellent performance at the Kings Prospect Camp giving up 1 goal in a period and a half, but show-casing both solid fundamentals and good athleticism in stopping some high percentage shots.
Drafted 7th round (221st overall), 2004 by LA.
2004-05: Surpassing his rookie totals from the 2003-04 season in games played (31), goals-against average (2.64), save percentage (.911) and shutouts (2), Taylor quickly became the “go-to” goaltender for Guelph from October through January. In that four-month stretch, Taylor posted an 11-8-3 record with a goals-against average of 2.24 and a save percentage of .922.
2005-06: Finished his juniors eligibility, going 32-15-3 after a pre-season trade to Kingston. Goals against average slightly off (3.11), but save percentage improved (.911) while scoring was up across the league. Went 2-3-0 in the playoffs for Kingston before signing a contract with Los Angeles during the offseason.
2006-07: Signed a contract with Los Angeles and spent most of the 2006-07 season in Bakersfield with both Munce and Fukufuji ahead of him on the depth charts. Later assigned to Texas of the ECHL. His 4.33 goals-against average and .872 save percentage with Bakersfield were nothing to be proud of, even for the ECHL. He did play better in a very short stint with Texas.
2007-08: In approximately half a season of play with Manchester, Taylor found himself near the top in goals-against average and save percentage. He nearly set the Manchester record for consecutive shutout minutes when he posted three shutouts in a row in late January, only to be inexplicably sat down for the fourth game in place of Dan Cloutier. Regardless, Taylor completed a more than surprising season and has set himself up to compete for the fulltime starting job for Manchester.
Talent Analysis
Taylor has good all around skills as a goaltender. He covers the bottom of the net well with nice lateral movement and a surprisingly quick glove hand. He does a good job of not allowing rebounds and absorbing the puck on shots from the outside. He sometimes can find himself pushed around a bit on jam-ins from in front of the net, but the strength to prevent this will come with age and maturity.
Future
Stats
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Profile Last Updated: July, 1st 2009
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