Flames Second Round Targets 2016: Sean Day
By Ryan Pike
7 years agoSean Day is big.
Standing 6’2″ and weighing roughly 230 pounds, he was an early physically-developing youngster and earned exceptional status from the Canadian Hockey League. Since then, he’s gone from being a player considered to be a slam-dunk first round selection in this year’s draft to one that might not even get chosen in the first two rounds.
Would he be worth a sniff for the Calgary Flames with one of their later second round selections? (Or even if he’s available in the early third round?)
SCOUTING REPORTS
A mobile two-way defenceman who boasts an elite level skill package.
Strong on the forecheck and delivers hard shots and crisp passes. His
consistency and enthusiasm exhibited at the game’s defining moments does
seem to wane, and the pressure felt seems to impact his decision-making
slightly. When focusing on simplifying his game and getting all the
little things right, he becomes a forceful impact that is hungry to be a
difference maker. All-in-all, a talented two-way defenceman who has all
of the raw abilities in place to become an elite defenceman, but has
yet to put it all together and prove that he can thrive in the driver’s
seat.
Sean Day is the biggest boom or bust prospect in the draft. His raw
skills and tools give him the ability to be one of the top defencemen in
the game. However there are real questions about the fact that he’s not
been able to put things all together to date, and some question if he
ever will. In terms of style, his game is comparable to Jay
Bouwmeester, but this is a stylistic comparison, and not one based on
his skill or potential.
I saw Day at the Team Canada Under-18 camp last August. In an event where there were many, many draft-eligible defenders there, he didn’t stand out aside from his size. He skated better than I expected him to given his size.
THE NUMBERS
Day has decent fundamentals. He’s big. He uses his size well. He’s solid in his own end. But want to see Day tumble head-long down the draft rankings?
He has 11 primary points and six even strength primary points. He’s behind 10 OHL blueliners in primary points and 15 in terms of even strength primary points. As a result of that, and a few other factors, he’s the eighth-ranked OHL defenseman by Central Scouting and will be hard-pressed to appear in the first two rounds of the draft.
He’s taking a ton of shots – heat map below from Prospect-Stats – but not many of them are going in.
FIT FOR THE FLAMES
I’m a bit torn on this. On one hand, Day’s played a ton of high-end hockey in his young career and aside from his weak offensive output he’s performed rather well. But the Flames already have a ton of left-shooting defensemen, and most of them are much better at puck-moving than Day seems to be.
So do the Flames want to use a second or third round pick on a defenseman that may turn out to be a better, smaller version of Keegan Kanzig? It’s not clear what the upside is.
SUM IT UP
The Flames may end up taking Day because of his defensive skills and his physical attributes, but his offensive output doesn’t seem overly impressive and it’s not clear if there would be much of a point of using a high selection on him.
But hey, if he’s around by the time the third round rolls around, his size may still get him drafted.
Previous draft targets: Alexander Nylander | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Matthew Tkachuk | Jakob Chychrun | Olli Juolevi | Clayton Keller | Alex DeBrincat | Sam Steel | Vitalii Abramov | Jake Bean | Tyson Jost | Mikhail Sergachev | Tyler Benson | Griffin Luce | Logan Brown | Samuel Girard | Will Bitten | Cliff Pu | Taylor Raddysh | Adam Mascherin | Carter Hart | Jordan Kyrou | Cam Morrison | Cam Dineen | Matthew Phillips | Carsen Twarynski
Recent articles from Ryan Pike
