Sean Day (born January 9, 1998) is a Belgian-born Canadian-American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

who is currently playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

(AHL) while under contract to the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). Day was selected by the Mississauga Steelheads fourth overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection. Day was drafted 81st overall in the third round of the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

. After several years playing in the minor leagues, Day made his NHL debut in 2021 with the Lightning.

Early life

Day was born in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, but grew up in

Rochester, Michigan Rochester is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census. It is a northern suburb in Metro Detroit located 20 miles north of the city of Detroit. Rochester was the first European settlem ...

. Keith Day, Sean's father, was an executive with a global chemical company, which has taken him all over the world. His family relocated periodically before he was transferred to the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

area. Day holds dual Canadian and American citizenship. Due to his family moving around the world, Day first skated on a mall rink in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Playing career

Day's application for Exceptional Player Status was granted by

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

on March 21, 2013, making him eligible to be drafted a year early in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection. Day was the fourth player to be granted the exemption, allowing him to start his major junior hockey career as a 15-year-old. The other players to have previously received the exemption are

John Tavares John Tavares (born September 20, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the New York Islanders in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft ...

in 2005, Aaron Ekblad in 2011 and

Connor McDavid Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers selected him first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. McDavid spen ...

in 2012. He was drafted fourth overall in the OHL Priority draft. In the 2016–17 season, on October 19, 2016, Day was acquired by

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

hosts, the

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

from the Mississauga Steelheads in exchange for draft picks. Gearing towards the playoffs with the Spitfires, on March 8, 2017, Day agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the

. He would win the Memorial Cup with the Spitfires later that season. In the 2017–18 season, on January 1, 2018, Day along with

Gabriel Vilardi Gabriel "Gabe" Vilardi (born August 16, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted eleventh overall by the Kings in the 2017 NHL Ent ...

were traded by the Spitfires to the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The Frontenacs play home games at Leon's Centre, which opened in 2008. Team history predates the OHA, back to 1945, to a ...

in exchange for Cody Morgan and six draft picks. Day began his professional career in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

with the Rangers AHL affiliate

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the XL Center. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. After a ...

. After a slow start in the first six games he was demoted to the Maine Mariners. He played well enough in 19 games with the Mariners to earn a berth in the ECHL All-Star game, but was promoted back to Hartford before the game. Day began the following season in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, but after posting a disappointing 4 points in 16 games, he was demoted to the Maine Mariners, where he would remain until the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. On May 30, 2020, Day was placed on unconditional waivers by the Rangers for the purposes of contract termination. He cleared waivers the following day and the remaining year of his contract was terminated. As a free agent on July 17, 2020, Day was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the

. He made his NHL debut with the Lightning on December 28, 2021, against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Sean 1998 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Belgian ice hockey defencemen Canadian ice hockey defencemen Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players from Detroit Ice hockey people from Ontario Kingston Frontenacs players Maine Mariners (ECHL) players Memorial Cup winners Mississauga Steelheads players New York Rangers draft picks Sportspeople from Leuven Syracuse Crunch players Tampa Bay Lightning players Windsor Spitfires players