Observations:

February 2015  – After a nice little breakout AHL season in 2013-14, Doherty has regressed a little in terms of offense. But in his defense, so has the rest of the team. Worcester acquired AHL D studs Matt Taormina and Taylor Fedun this offseason, which pushes Doherty back on the depth chart. But fellow prospect Matt Tennyson has passed him in priority and Doherty has not made enough of a mark offensively to have a future there. Dobber

May 2013 – Doherty had an injury riddled season. He did, however, improve his offensive production from last season of six points in sixty-three games to ten points in forty games. He likely will not make the San Jose roster next season due to the over crowded nature of the defensive core and with how many young guys are in there. The Sharks have turned to more of a quick skating, quick passing group and rely less on size and brutality to get the puck out of the zone. He’ll be an injury call-up next season. Tim Graveline

May 2012 – Doherty finished the season with a plus-2 rating. This is a good sign for his first full season in the AHL.  He does not put up many points on the board, but did get 6 goals, which is fairly respectable. The first thing you will notice is his size.  He is big and he plays like it in his own zone. Defense is what he focuses on and he is not afraid to get into the dirty areas or even fight for his team. He sometimes is compared to Zdeno Chara, but lacks the offense that Chara is known for.  So do not expect that from him.  It is an unfair comparison based mostly on his size. He did have a scoring touch in juniors, but not enough to warrant it at the NHL level. I would expect him to make the big league club in the next two seasons, but his lack of offense-minded play does not really make him fantasy relevant, unless it is in a deep league that uses hits and penalty minutes. Tim Graveline

Fantasy Outlook: D+

Average upside. He will need time to develop his game, but as a stay-at-home defenseman he’s not going to provide much offense

Footage:

A look at Doherty fighting for his team:

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Taylor Doherty statistics courtesy of Elite Prospects

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