As a youth, Taormina played in the 2000
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Honeybaked
minor ice hockey team. Taormina began his amateur career playing in the
North American Hockey League with the
Texarkana Bandits. Earning a place in the Second All-Star Team, the All-Rookie Team and winning the NAHL's Rookie of the year, Matt then committed to play collegiate hockey in the
Hockey East with
Providence College. With a selection to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team as a junior, Matt progressed to join the
Binghamton Senators of the
American Hockey League after completing his senior year at the end of the
2008–09 season. As an undrafted free agent, Taormina was signed to an AHL contract for the
2009–10 season by the
New Jersey Devils on August 20, 2009. Taormina scored 50 points in 75 games to lead the
Lowell Devils in assists and signed a one-year contract extension with the Devils on February 26, 2010. With an impressive training camp and with the advantage of familiarity under head coach
John MacLean with Lowell, Matt opened the
2010–11 season on the New Jersey Devils roster. In his fifth game, Matt scored his first NHL goal on October 15, 2010, a powerplay goal, against
Craig Anderson of the
Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 defeat. Taormina signed a one-year two-way contract with the
Tampa Bay Lightning of the
NHL on July 6, 2012. In his second season with Tampa Bay, at the
2013–14 trade deadline, Taormina was traded by the Lightning, along with
Dana Tyrell, to the
Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for
Jonathan Marchessault and
Dalton Smith on March 5, 2014. On September 26, 2014, the
Worcester Sharks announced they had signed Taormina to a one-year AHL contract. In the
2014–15 season, Taormina returned to form to lead the Sharks in scoring from the blueline with 38 points in 72 games. On July 1, 2015, Taormina returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning, in signing a one-year, two-way contract as a free agent. On April 19, 2016, Taormina played in first career Stanley Cup Playoffs game, which was a 3-2 Lightning win over the
Detroit Red Wings. On June 28, 2016 the Lightning announced the re-signing of Taormina to a one-year, two-way contract. Taormina skated in three games with the Lighting that season. Taormina also skated in three Stanley Cup playoff games in 2016. He also appeared in 61 games with the Crunch last season, recording 13 goals and 41 points. This ranked Taormina second among Crunch defensemen for points and led all defensemen for goals with 13. On March 17, 2017, Taormina was named a
permanent alternate captain of the Syracuse Crunch. On April 6, 2017, Taromina was named to the
2016–17 AHL All-Star First Team. On April 7, 2017, Taromina was awarded the
Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's outstanding defenseman for the
2016–17 season. On July 1, 2017, Taormina left the Lightning as a free agent and signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Near the beginning of the season, Taormina was named an
alternate captain of the
Laval Rocket along with
Chris Terry, with
Byron Froese being the first
captain in the
team’s history. Prior to the
2018–19 season, and having missed pre-season through injury, on October 1, Taormina and
Rinat Valiev were traded by the Canadiens to the
Calgary Flames in exchange for
Brett Kulak. ==Career statistics==