Kalamazoo Wings‘ 7th year center Justin Taylor(93) has been with the team for either most or all of his time as a pro.
The former Washington Capitals‘ 6th round pick in the 2007 draft (#180 overall) originally signed a contract with Bridgeport Sound Tigers but played only 15 AHL games with no points before being reassigned.
In the lower league he would excel as a rookie scoring 23 goals and 25 assists in 48 ECHL contests.
This would mirror the output he was able to achieve in his last three campaigns of juniors with London Knights of the OHL, where he was virtually a point-per-game guy.
The only year he would skate for other squads was his third, 2012/2013.
Re-signed for a second run with the K-Wings, he got off to a slow start with 3 assists and was traded to Trenton Titans, but also seemed to struggle some there before he was once again shipped off, this time to Idaho Steelheads.
He didn’t exactly regain his footing grabbing 6 goals and 3 assists in 25 games but when it was postseason time his game got elevated and he popped in 5 tallies with 4 helpers in 17 Kelly Cup Playoff match-ups.
That would be the last time he put on the skates for another team and has been in Michigan ever since and is credited for 349 games with 4 seasons of 40+ point production.
It would be little surprise to see the 27-year old eclipse the 50 point mark in 2016/2017 and continue with them for the rest of his career before stepping into coaching.
He’s definitely an exciting player to watch.