Stephen Halliday’s powerful road to an Nhl Debut is a great lesson in development
Stephen Halliday is slated to make Thursday night’s NHL Debut against the Ottawa Senators, according to a report from Suce Garrioch. Halliday’s is a story about the value of patience, persistence and that progress is not always sequential.
The story of Holoiday is also one about expectations, ideas and those that can change over time.
Think about the fact that he was the No. 1 future draft pick in 2018, he committed early to the University of North Dakota and was highly regarded in the NHL as a junior as a talented center with size.
After being passed over for two NHL drafts within three seasons of the USHLL, it seemed that Halliday’s first move was the wrong one.
Maybe it was at the beginning, and for many players that would be the end of the story. That was not the case with Holiday.
After playing his first year in the USHL for a defunct team – the Central Illinois Flying Aces – Halliday Flying Played in three USHL campaigns with three USHL Saints. Most NHL prospects don’t spend four years in Junior. Usually any school they commit to, but North Dakota didn’t think the Hallidays were ready to get in and they were right.
Not going to school was probably the best thing that could happen on a holiday. In a year when many would have struggled in their Freshman season, Halliday entered the USHL with Dubuque.
In his last hour of the day, everything clicked. His career high before that time was 48 points. In the 2021-22 season with Dubuque Halliday we had an amazing 95 points including 35 goals and 60 women. He became Dubuque’s leading scorer.
The Ottawa Senators took him in the fourth round in his third and final year of the NHL Draft. Halliday had already transferred from North Dakota and signed with Ohio State. After two very successful seasons, he signed with Ottawa and was assigned to the Belleville Senators.
In 96 games with Belleville, Halliday has 72 points. He’s better than a point per game with B-Sensis and now he’s getting his first crack at the NHL.
Halliday is a great lesson that preconceived notions and expectations do not always have to be met with plan. There are many of the players who had all the accolades placed in Junior hockey, he did not live and do them.
It would have been easy for Halliday to go through three average years (in good production) and be disrespectful at the back. It’s a big credit to him for sticking with the process, allowing for improvement and his hard work.
Stories like his stuff are rare. Players get bad all the time at 15 and 16 when there is still so much left to go and it can go either way. Sometimes they are unnecessarily exaggerated, sometimes they may have been well analyzed but the long-term clarification took a long time to come.
THAT’S WORTH IT JUST SO WE LOOK AT HOLLDAY AND, “WOW, IT TOOK HIM TOO LONG TO GO!” Well, he’s only 23 with a lot of growth left.
It’s a good reminder that development doesn’t go in a straight line and that peaks and valleys are all part of every player. Some valleys are deeper than others, but those who find their way perhaps deserve more credit when they achieve their ultimate goal.
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