The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed defenseman Sean Day to a one-year, two-way contract Monday, the team announced today.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The 25-year-old defender recorded 14 points in 63 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch last season.
Day, who was granted exceptional status to enter the OHL as a 15-year-old, struggled for years to find his professional footing. The stability finally came in the Lightning organization, where Day posted back-to-back strong campaigns for the Crunch in 2020-21 and 2021-22, even earning a two-game NHL call-up in the latter season.
Things dried up for the 2016 third-round pick in 2022-23, however. Day went the entire campaign without scoring a goal and slipped down the Lightning organizational depth chart considerably, appearing in just one Calder Cup Playoffs game for Syracuse.
The one-year deal guarantees Day a spot in North American professional hockey for another season, but he’ll need to regain his 2021 form to earn him another NHL contract next summer.
A two-way defender by trade, Day was never able to put a complete game together after entering the OHL a season early. A rushed, high-intensity development process prohibited Day from taking the time he needed to grow his consistency and decision-making, dropping him from a highly-touted youngster to a middling prospect, even by the time he was drafted into the NHL seven years ago.
Without much organizational depth at the position, Day has more runway in Syracuse/Tampa Bay than most players in his situation to regain his confidence.
This guy played like a beast in my NHL 18. Won all kinds of awards. He was nicknamed by his teammates Sean ” All ” Day.