Sunday: Friedman reports that Day has cleared waivers and now will see his contract terminated.
Saturday: The New York Rangers have placed once-heralded top prospect Sean Day on unconditional waivers with the purposes of terminating his contract, according to CapFriendly. Day, who was given exceptional status to play in the OHL a year early in 2013-14, never was able to capitalize on his talent. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed the move.
Day’s name will always be synonymous for being granted exceptional status of an under age player, an honor that has only been awarded to six players in the CHL, including John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Joe Veleno, Shane Wright and Day. Most of those players went on to be NHL stars with Veleno having finished a solid rookie season in the AHL, while Wright is considered to be a top candidate to be the top-overall pick in the 2022 draft. Day, however, has been the one player which looks like a mistake and this move only further emphasizes that.
Day, who was considered to be an elite skater, didn’t dominate in the OHL like many expected, although he was still good enough for the Rangers to select the blueliner in the third round back in 2016. However, after two pro seasons in the AHL and ECHL, Day wasn’t close to getting an opportunity with the NHL squad. In fact, the 22-year-old’s play decreased. He played 46 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and 19 games with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners in 2018-19, but ended up playing more in Maine this past season (36 games), compared to Hartford, where he appeared in just 16 games with a goal and four points.
You could tell he was going to be a bust years ago. He was granted exceptional player status and he never bothered to put in the work to elevate his game. He thought he could coast by on talent alone but clearly that didn’t pan out.
And you know he didn’t put the work how? Maybe he worked hard but just didn’t have the talent. Lots of top notch juniors have failed.
He would hardly be the first 18-23 year old who didn’t understand how the world works.
Well worth it for someone to give him an AHL job to see if he matures and develops.
Dropped from the east coast league. Hard to believe he was one of the few to receive exceptional player status.
Just another kid that thought everything was going to be easy and took things for granted.
The kid was exceptional when younger, but did not want to take the bull by the horns and do what was required to make him better.