Despite being cut by the Rangers, Sean Day vows to be back

Defenceman Sean Day has no plans on giving up on hockey, despite have his contract with the New York Rangers terminated.

“I'm playing (next season) for sure,” Day told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Once considered a highly-touted prospect, Day is now a free agent after clearing unconditional waivers. The 22-year-old, who was granted exceptional status to play in the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old, has spent his time between the ECHL's Maine Mariners and AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack after being drafted in the third round by the Rangers in 2016. The blueliner managed 18 points in 62 career games in the AHL while recording 35 points in 55 games in the ECHL.

“Obviously I have a lot of critics, but a lot of people don't know me,” Day said this week. “When this whole thing came out (with the Rangers), it was pretty hard for me. I don't have Twitter, but a bunch of my buddies kept sending me stuff… what people are saying about me. None of (those people) know me. If they knew me, they wouldn't say half this stuff.”

"It was not a good fit for New York, [but] I'm not going to sit here and bash them,” Day said. “They did give me the opportunity to play pro hockey and they drafted me. I'm overly grateful for that. It is just time to move on. I wasn't in their [future]. I could tell that.”

“I love hockey, and the last two years, I've done enough to show people that I really do care about this sport and I want to do it for a living.”

Day is one of seven players in history who were granted exceptional status to play in the CHL at 15-years of age. The others are John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Joe Veleno, Shane Wright, and Connor Bedard.

Source: 31 Thoughts

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