Drafted players have the added benefit of attending NHL summer development camps, where prospects can become more familiar with the organizations that selected them.
“Unless you really dazzle them with a performance, you’re not going to get the same look as one of their guys that was drafted and has been in the system,” Taylor says.
While being drafted is an important factor in the decision to play after college, for many players post-grad hockey is simply the pursuit of a dream. Despite being drafted in the third round, former Crimson defenseman Kenny Smith ’04 understood that his chances of making the NHL were slim when he signed with the Edmonton Oilers’ ECHL affiliate in 2004.
“Pretty much [for] everyone that gets drafted and even the guys who pursue a career after going undrafted, the goal is to try and make the NHL,” Smith says. “But I think we all appreciate early on that it’s a pretty difficult goal to obtain and only a small portion of the people who get drafted even get there.”
NHL teams have drafted 10 players on Harvard’s current roster. At the end of March, star junior forward Jimmy Vesey turned down an opportunity to sign with the Nashville Predators in order to return for his senior year. Smith took comfort in the fact that he could approach a professional career with a Harvard diploma in his back pocket.
“For myself, I knew I wanted to try and make a career out of hockey even before I committed to Harvard, so committing to Harvard was a way to sort of create that safety net and know that there’s going to be really good opportunities after my playing career,” Smith says.
While neither Taylor nor Smith got the call up to the NHL before retiring, they both enjoyed their post-grad hockey experiences. For Taylor and Smith, minor league hockey was more than a shot at the NHL—it was a means of continuing to play the game they love.
“You get to have the professional experience and [play at] really nice rinks and play in front of big crowds and do all the things that we love doing as hockey players,” Smith says. “Part of it is just continuing a lifestyle you’ve always had as a hockey player and not really wanting to let that go.”
Taylor echoes the thought.
“When else in life would you have that opportunity?” Taylor says. “I hadn’t necessarily planned on it, but I had played myself into an opportunity that was a once in a lifetime chance, and I’m definitely glad that I did it for a couple years.”