Day demonstrated potential more frequently in the second half of his rookie season (Aaron Bell, OHL Images)

Day demonstrated potential more frequently in the second half of his rookie season (Aaron Bell, OHL Images)

MISSISSAUGA, ONT. – With nothing but daylight ahead, Sean Day snatched a loose puck at the Mississauga Steelheads blueline and took off.

The risk was low with his team on a power play, so the defenceman picked his way through the neutral zone before darting between would-be North Bay Battalions defenders Cam Dineen and Mike Amadio.

While he was stopped on a scoring chance by goaltender Jake Smith, the rush on a Sunday afternoon game in late October provided a snapshot of Day’s tantalizing talents ahead of the 2016 NHL draft some eight months from now.

“I’m just worried about playing as well as I can,” Day said after scoring an empty-net goal in a 4-2 win. “I have a good attitude. I know I can play. There’s not much more to it.”

But there is more to it than that. Much more.

It’s only a month into the 2015-16 CHL season, but Day – the OHL’s fourth exceptional status player – has clearly emerged as this year’s most polarizing draft-eligible skater.

It’s a moniker of which he’s acutely aware.

“I’m critiqued a lot more than a normal player would be,” said the 17-year-old who was born in Belgium, put on skates for the first time as a toddler in Singapore and grew up in Rochester, Mich.

There’s little question Day has the skill to be a first-round selection. Whether or not that comes to fruition next June in Buffalo is the million-dollar question.

Mark Seidel, the chief scout for North American Central Scouting, likens Day to St. Louis Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester in everything from skating ability to temperament. He says the Steelheads veteran is clearly a top-five talent.

That’s the rosy outlook.

The cloudy one: Seidel currently has Day ranked as the 32nd overall pick. He even knows a few in his scouting brethren that don’t think Day will be drafted. At all.

Although he believes such a view is ludicrous, Seidel is certain “there will be a lot of battles in (NHL) team scouting meetings” when Day’s name comes up.

“He’s one of the most unique players I’ve ever scouted in my entire history doing this – over 22 years,” Seidel said. “In a sense he’s kind of like (2014 New York Islanders first-rounder and Niagara IceDog) Josh Ho-Sang, polarizing for different reasons. From a physical standpoint, this kid has tools NHL players dream about. He’s a linebacker on skates.

“But he really lacks urgency. He’s got a real passive quality to his game. With his abilities, he could take the game over and simply dominate. Yet, he doesn’t.”

Day’s hockey story is known by even the most casual of hockey fans.

View photos Like Connor McDavid, Sean Day was granted exceptional status that let him to play in OHL a year early. More

He was granted exceptional status – allowing him to enter the OHL a year early – following in the footsteps of OHL and NHL first overall picks John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid. But, unlike his exceptional status predecessors, Day wasn’t selected first in the OHL draft. In 2013, Travis Konecny (Ottawa), Dylan Strome (Erie) and Matthew Spencer (Peterborough) were all chosen before Mississauga nabbed Day.

At this point in their careers, Tavares, Ekblad and McDavid had either played on Canadian world junior teams or were in the running for a spot.

“I don’t even consider myself part of that anymore. I’m just a normal guy in the draft,” said Day, referring to the status. “It might be hard not going first overall in the NHL draft, but it’s not my fault that (projected first pick) Auston Matthews is that good.

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