Trevor Cox never met his legendary great-grandfather Fred (Cyclone) Taylor, but he has adopted some of his on-ice traits.

Like his famous ancestor, the 19-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers centre can rack up points with regularity. Cox leads the WHL in scoring by a wide margin with 23 goals, 69 assists and 92 points.

"From what I hear, he was a great skater and one of my biggest assets is my skating ability and my speed," said Cox, a Surrey, B.C., native who is in his fourth season with the Tigers. "That'd probably be the one (similar) thing that stands out. I'd say I'm a skilled player. Obviously a good skill set seemed to come down the (family) line, and I was fortunate to get a pretty good skill set."

Cyclone Taylor, regarded as one of Canada's first and all-time hockey greats, starred in the formative years of professional hockey. He won Stanley Cup titles with the Ottawa Senators (1909) and Vancouver Millionaires (1915) and earned selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.

"Hockey, it's just been in-bred in me, and I've been very fortunate to be raised in such a great hockey family," said Cox.

Despite his puckhandling pedigree, Cox, who is listed at five-foot-eight and 164 pounds, was not chosen in last summer's NHL draft. But he will have a second - and final chance - at selection this year.

"Obviously, one of the knocks against me is my size, and it'll always be a knock," said Cox. "But I've just got to work on, I guess, proving people wrong — and keep improving every day."

Cox and linemate Cole Sanford, who sits second in league scoring (44 goals, 39 assists) have improved championship hopes. The Tigers have a firm hold on second place in the Eastern Conference.

Medicine Hat general manager and coach Shaun Clouston believes Cox can excel as a pro despite the NHL's tendency to draft bigger players, noting that several smaller skaters are shining right now.

"It's hard to ignore the numbers that he's putting up," said Clouston. "He's had steady improvement. Those are good signs when you're looking at projecting players."

Cox's uncle Mark Taylor, who played in the NHL with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington from 1981 to 1986, said Cox is "slippery" enough to handle the physical play in the big leagues. However, he added, Cox will constantly have to battle the negative stereotypes surrounding smaller players.

"You look at players like that (Johnny) Gaudreau on Calgary and just how exciting he is, game in and game out, and how much they seem to love him in Calgary," said Taylor. "And you think, well, a lot of other teams probably didn't look at him that seriously. Unfortunately, a lot of smaller players like that just don't get the opportunity. So you hope that (Cox) does."

But Mark Taylor said, as in his own case, Cox has faced little family pressure to emulate Cyclone Taylor's success. Cyclone, who died in 1979 at the age of 94, was "pretty humble" and "pretty quiet," only offered advice when asked, and "was just happy to be a fan and support the grandkids."

"For most of us, (hockey) was just a part of our lives," Mark Taylor said. "Having a famous grandfather, it just all made sense why you were trying to excel at the ice rink at a young age. It just keeps you focused and, maybe, makes your dreams a little bit clearer, and you realize that there may be a possibility (of playing in the NHL) if you work hard at it."

Note: Cox's twin brother Matt won the 2014 RBC Cup with the Yorkton Terriers. Matt Cox now plays for the Nova Scotia-based Pictou County Weeks Crushers in the Maritime Hockey League.