Providence has added Fort McMurray (AJHL) defenseman Taige Harding to its roster for the second half of the 2021-22 season. The 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pound defenseman will wear No. 27 with the Friars.
Harding (4.25-stars) is a premiere recruit for the Friars. He was originally slated to join the program next season.
“For a player of his frame to move as well as he does and cover both power forwards and speedy, skilled forwards speaks to his athleticism and versatility at the next level,” said NZ scouts. “He has a heavy shot from the point and can keep it low without losing velocity and can get it off while walking the blue line, off catch and shoot plays and has a bullet one-timer.”
A third-round selection (91st overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2021 NHL Draft, Harding joins the Friars after spending two and a half seasons with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. He was the captain for the Oil Barons this season and he ranked second on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points in 37 games.
Harding also was named AJHL Defensive Player of the Week three times this season. In 99 career games with Fort McMurray, he amassed 20 goals, 36 assists, and 154 penalty minutes.
We had Harding ranked as the No. 1 2002-born player in the AJHL and the No. 3 overall 2002-born player in the nation in our most-recent rankings, which were released last month.
