Sean Day and The Dark Side of Exceptional Status

However, like Schultz, there was speculation about whether Day would apply for the exceptional status at all. There were rumours that his application may be denied, and if that were the case, Day would use his dual citizenship to represent the USA instead. But his application was approved, with The Hockey Writers’ Brendan Ross noting, “If the past few months filled with nasty assumptions and wild speculation are any indication, Sean Day has shown great maturity and confidence through this challenging process, qualities that are expected of exceptional players.”

Early Warning Signs with Mississauga

Being granted exceptional status is a big deal for the player, but an even bigger deal for the team that drafts him. Junior stars will, at most, play three to four seasons before graduating and either turning pro or finding new opportunities in college. An exceptional player will play for four to five years, which opens up longer championship windows and higher revenues.

Three players were given exceptional status ahead of Day, and all of them – John Tavares, Ekblad, and Connor McDavid – were first overall picks in both the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and NHL Drafts. Drafting Day seemed like a perfect first step in creating a championship contender.

However, the 67’s selected Travis Konecny first overall, the Erie Otters selected Dylan Strome second, and the Peterborough Petes took defenceman Matt Spencer third, leaving Day to the Mississauga Steelheads at fourth overall. Day’s drop was unprecedented; not only was he the first exceptional status player to not go first in his junior draft, but as of 2025, he is still the only one to drop out of that spot.

Day’s drop seemed to be influenced by two main factors. The 67’s and Otters already had young defence corps and had their sights set on forwards, and their decisions paid off. But the Petes were a perfect organization for Day, as they’d traded captain Slater Koekkoek to the Windsor Spitfires and lacked skill on their blue line. Yet, they went for Spencer, another big, smooth-skating defenceman who projected to be a franchise player in the OHL, because he was more mature.

The rebuilding Petes wanted a calm, poised defenceman they could rely on to anchor their blue line, and although Day was just a year younger, he wasn’t nearly as mature as Spencer. “[Ekblad and McDavid] were old for their age, young adults at 15, but Sean was an average 15-year-old,” Mississauga’s coach and general manager, James Boyd, told Sportsnet’s Gare Joyce. “You could see the difference [emotionally] between him and the 19- and 20-year-olds on the team. Not that he’s a bad kid, just that he’s not Crosby, not McDavid, not at that level of seriousness.”

Because Day was an “average 15-year-old,” he was less prepared for the intense pressure from fans and media. Not only was he expected to be a cornerstone for the Steelheads’ title dreams, but he was projected to be a top, if not the top, pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. So, when his rookie season underwhelmed, people were quick to pile on the criticism, which he found difficult to handle.

“A lot of people would say that [my rookie season] was a bad year, but I think it was good for my development,” Day told Joyce in 2015. “I went into that season not knowing a lot about defence. I wanted to jump up into the rush a lot. I had to learn about playing in my own end, thinking defence before offence.

Even coming in as a 16-year-old in your first season, it’s tougher [than other positions] because you’re the last line of defence and all eyes are on you. And there’s just that much more scrutiny on you as an exceptional player. They want to see something exceptional every shift.”

Day’s Inability to Handle the Pressure

Day put together a much stronger sophomore campaign, increasing his point total from 16 to 36, and his abysmal minus-35, the second-lowest plus/minus on the team, improved to a minus-27. He was also invited to represent Canada at the U17 World Hockey Challenge, where he tied for third among defencemen in points. His development may have been slower than expected, but he was progressing in Mississauga.

But with his increased production came even greater criticism, especially with the 2016 Draft on the horizon. Scouts were still not impressed with his lack of urgency and limited hockey sense, and some argued that he was still essentially the same player he was as a rookie.

While most prospects can block out the noise and focus on their game, Day couldn’t resist responding to the constant barrage of comments. “The reason I was rated as a B player was my ‘character’,” he said, referring to NHL Central Scouting’s Player to Watch list. “They talk about my weight a lot. But I’ve already lost 20 pounds since coming here, so I’m down to 225, which is a good playing weight.”

Although Day wasn’t invited to the Ivan Hlinka tournament (now the Hlinka Gretzky Cup), 2015-16 started well enough with 13 points in 24 games. But then he hit a 10-game point drought in the middle of a 33-game goal drought, and the critics came pouring in.

Day knew it was because he had been given a special status, yet at this point, he didn’t want people to see him that way. “I don’t even consider myself part of that [exceptional status group] anymore,” he said. “I’m just a normal guy in the draft. It might be hard not going first overall in the NHL draft, but it’s not my fault that Auston Matthews is that good.”

Matthews was already considered a favourite to go first overall in September 2015, which was all but solidified after a bronze medal at the 2016 World Junior Championship, but Patrik Laine promised to give him a run for his money after a dominant tournament in which he looked like Mario Lemieux or Nathan MacKinnon.

Meanwhile, Day, who also wasn’t invited to join Canada at the World Juniors, was slowly slipping out of first-round consideration, which he felt was a slight against him. “People forget I’m 17. I have a whole season to help my [draft] stock,” he said to Joyce. “When I see the draft boards and I’m not even in the first round, I just tune it out and say to myself, ‘C’mon, that’s dumb.’”

Things went from bad to worse for Day that season. In his final 33 games, he only put up nine points, which left him ranked 43rd among Central Scouting’s North American skaters. He then revealed that, for the past year or so, he’d been dealing with his older brother’s incarceration after he was charged with driving while intoxicated and causing a death as a result. “I think that’s what the scouts … talk about me, just not looking engaged. A lot of the time I wasn’t,” Day said. “So, it’s been tough. I went home for a little bit of the season and re-gathered my thoughts.”

Was Exceptional Status the Wrong Choice?

Day was selected in the third round, 81st overall, by the New York Rangers at the 2016 NHL Draft. While it was hailed as a potential steal and a great fit for the young defenceman, he failed to make an impact with the franchise. Four years after his draft, he was a free agent.

There were some highs on that journey, including winning the Memorial Cup with the Spitfires in 2016-17, but the pressure in the years leading up to the 2016 Draft had taken its toll. “It was a fresh start,” Day said following the trade to Windsor. “A different look on the game, in a way. With how I was before and how I played, coming here with a new system and new coaching allowed me to forget about a lot of the stuff that happened, and I could create a new identity.”

Those aren’t comments made by a happy player. But Day couldn’t ignore the intense criticism that landed on potential NHL All-Stars. That’s not a slight against him in any way; most people would struggle just as much under the spotlight. Only the truly elite athletes who train to ignore all the comments can survive that kind of pressure. It’s why the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs have pushed players away with their intensity. Unfortunately, Day wasn’t prepared for that level of scrutiny, and it derailed his career.

Day finally made his long-awaited NHL debut in 2021-22 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, appearing in two games and finishing with four hits and two blocks while averaging 10:43 minutes of ice time, but no points. He finished that season with 40 points in 69 games with the Syracuse Crunch, and it finally looked like he was coming into his own as a mobile two-way defenceman. But two seasons after his career high, he was once again a free agent, and with no interest from the NHL, he tried his luck in Sweden with HV71.

In Aug. 2025, the Bridgeport Islanders signed Day to a one-year American Hockey League deal. While it’s not too late for the 27-year-old to become an NHL player, he’s running out of opportunities because he’ll never escape his exceptional status tag.

He saw the writing on the wall back in 2015. He wanted to be seen as just another player with flaws, like everyone else, but deep down, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He realized too late that his exceptional status put him in a special category, and now he’s living out the reality of not living up to the impossibly high expectations placed on him.

That’s the problem with exceptional status. No matter what happens after, you’ll always be seen as a player who should be an NHL star. Day’s public struggles with the pressure hampered his career, and now other young players can see what he went through and make a much more informed decision.

That’s what Schultz did. He decided that he didn’t want that microscope watching his every movement. After all, he already has plenty of people watching him following his previous exemption, and so he probably knows better than most how much pressure comes with that tag. He will almost certainly be better for it, too.