CHL notebook: Oilers prospect Day prospering after slow start to season

Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Nathaniel Day never became too worried about his future, even when it felt like pucks were whizzing past him like cars on the highway.

The Edmonton Oilers goalie prospect allowed 20 goals in his first three games for Flint of the OHL this season, and was 0-5-0 with a 5.46 goals-against average and .812 save percentage in his first five games.

Since then, however, he's 10-5-1 with a 3.26 GAA and .888 save percentage in 16 games.

Day said there was no magic formula to getting back on track, just hard work.

"I think it's just a matter of sticking to the basics," he said. "Just kind of put my head down and keep working hard, just keeping things simple, approaching every day wanting to get better every single day and just sticking to the basics. Because when times kind of get rough, that's just what I do."

Day said there were some technique changes he worked on with Oilers goalie scout Jeff Salajko, and video sessions and conversations with Flint goalie coach Greg Stefan as well as former teammate Luke Cavallin also helped him stay on the right path physically and mentally.

"There was a few things here and there, positioning and tracking pucks," Day said. "Just little things you can fix, do little drills to kind of adjust. Since I've talked with them, and they've helped me and we've done lots of video, I think things have gone upwards from there."

Salajko has been impressed by Day since before the Oilers selected the 18-year-old in the sixth round (No. 184) of the 2023 NHL Draft. Day had a similar slow start last season, but finished strong (9-1-0, 2.59 GAA, .917 save percentage in his final 11 games) to help Flint make the playoffs.

"For me, he was the most improved goalie from the start of the season until the end of last year in that draft," Salajko said. "He was borderline awful the first half of the season ... and for him to go on the run he went on in the second half ... was very impressive. To have a 17-10 record as a rookie in that league, it's a tough league and I think analytically it showed last year the Ontario Hockey League was the toughest league to play in for a goaltender of all the [junior] leagues, so that says something right there."

Salajko said a coaching change after the second game of the season has made Flint a tighter team defensively, and Day is seeing fewer high-danger scoring chances and odd-man rushes, which will improve his numbers. But Day's work ethic also has helped him straighten out his season.

"The good thing about Nathan is he is a great worker, great practice habits, he's very coachable," Salajko said. "My point with him was to just narrow his focus, not to look at the big picture. Don't be worried about the Edmonton Oilers, and three games wasn't going to define his career or whether we sign him or not. I think some of those things were going through his head, and I just said, 'Let's focus on getting better in this practice, let's focus on getting ready for our next start.' And to his credit, he did a great job."

Day said he feels his current run of success is far more indicative of the kind of goalie he is, and can be as he continues to progress this season.

Salajko said the next step is for Day to be more consistent from game to game, rather than have the big swings throughout a season.

"The consistency part is really coming with him," he said. "The team, I think it's a good team. ... But he's been a backbone, he's given them stability. He's been a workhorse. He's proven that he can be a workhorse physically. Now we're seeing the mental part of it in the development and the maturity. I think that is all going to play a big part for him as we head down the stretch here in the second half.

"He checks all the boxes for me and for us. He's a high-character kid, he's a smart kid. He's a worker. He's got a good head on his shoulders. He was a great interview when I interviewed him before the draft and I was really impressed in that. ... The physical play will separate a lot of it, and the intangibles, when all things are close or being equal, you're going to really kind of get inside these kids' heads and get to know them a little bit.

"He's very cerebral, and I think he's very level-headed and down to earth. He doesn't strike me as the type of kid that his highs are too high and his lows are too low. He's got a good equilibrium about him. I think that'll help him, that disposition that he has, as he goes further on in his OHL career and then onto his professional career."

OTHERS TO WATCH

Matyas Sapovaliv, C, Saginaw: Sapovaliv had a season-high four points (one goal, three assists) in 6-1 win against Sarnia on Nov. 25, and the 19-year-old matched that total one night later with his first hat trick of the season plus an assist in a 6-2 win against Niagara. The Vegas Golden Knights prospect, selected in the second round (No. 48) of the 2022 NHL Draft, has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during a five-game point streak and 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 24 games this season.

Andrei Loshko, C, Rouyn-Noranda: Loshko had two assists in a 6-2 loss at Acadie-Bathurst on Nov. 26 to extend his point streak to a season-best five games (three goals, four assists). The 19-year-old Seattle Kraken prospect, selected in the fourth round (No. 116) of the 2023 draft, has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games this season.

Denton Mateychuk, D, Moose Jaw: Mateychuk had two assists in a 5-2 win at Red Deer on Friday, extending his season-opening point streak to 20 games (six goals, 24 assists). The 19-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 draft, has the second-longest point streak by a WHL defenseman since 2010-11 (Lucas Dragicevic, 27 games, 2022-23).