Undrafted, 3rd year mini-center Taylor Vause(34) has earned every inch of the ice he’s played on.
He joined Texas Stars on an ato after four plus seasons of junior hockey in the WHL, where he was team captain with Swift Current Broncos scoring more than a point-per-game in his last campaign (37-46-83 in 72 games).
Generously listed at 5’10” 185 lbs. he was able to put up his first pro goal and an assist in 5 AHL contests.
He signed a pto to continue in the lone star state for his rookie year and re-upped with a second tryout before getting a full-on contract.
While it took him a little time to find his spot in the lineup, once in he was a bit slow to start but finished with 4 goals and 13 assists in 55 games, which was a decent debut for the tenacious forward.
He also appeared in 3 postseason matches registering no points.
It was reported he signed a one-year deal with Idaho Steelheads in the off-season but after attending Texas‘ training camp was kept on board once again and split his playing time with both clubs gaining more consistency on the score sheet.
And even though he played in only a pair of playoff games, he did have his name included on the 2013 Calder Cup Trophy.
The 23-year decided to ink his next deal with Colorado Eagles and quickly established himself as a scoring threat.
It didn’t take the Calgary native to earn a recall and signed another pto with Adirondack Flames.
He had been in their training camp.
The small pivot made an impact almost immediately and one month in was given an spc to stay with the team, although he was later reassigned back down after cooling off.
It only took him a week to return as he exploded for a 3 goal, 3 assist performance in his 3-game ECHL stint.
He’ll certainly have to keep his energy level up and connect but he might have found his home for at least the short term and will likely get an NHL camp look.