Taylor Gauthier ended the shortened season with three straight wins to notch three new career WHL records.
His second-half performance in 2019-20 could be rewarded with another chance at his name potentially being called by an NHL club this summer as the Prince George Cougars’ netminder has moved up almost 10 spots in the league’s final Central Scouting report.
As of today (April 8), Gauthier is ranked 19th among 31 North American goaltenders.
He was last ranked 27th mid-season, so this means, if he does get drafted, it will likely be in one of the final few rounds.
.@PGCougars' Taylor Gauthier jumps 8 spots to 19th among North American goaltenders in the final @NHLCentralScout rankings ahead of the 2020 Draft 🥅 He was 27th mid-season & was 7th at this time a year ago, but was ultimately passed over in Vancouver | #CityOfPG @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/34exyVHvDF
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) April 8, 2020
The 19-year-old was passed over in Vancouver last year despite his seventh-place ranking, coming as a surprise to teammate Cole Moberg, who was taken by the Chicago Blackhawks in the final round.
“That was a big shock to me,” he said in an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters after the 2019 NHL Draft.
“He’s one of my best friends on the team, so when we were going through it together this year, I was hoping that we’d both get drafted. But now that he didn’t get drafted, I know he’ll be working that much harder to get there. I’ve always said, wherever he goes, they’re going to want to sign him because they’re not going to want to lose his rights. He’ll have a fire lit underneath him for sure.”
In fact, there was so much fire within Gauthier, he set new personal-bests in wins (16), goals-against average (2.93) and save-percentage (0.917).
He logged in the most minutes in the WHL this season at 2,870 and was second in saves (1,537) and shots-faced (1,677).
Gauthier was also named team MVP for Prince George last month and is the only Cougar listed on NHL Central Scouting’s final report.
The 2020 Draft was supposed to take place in Montreal June 26 and 27, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its location, timing and format have yet to be finalized.
