I thought Ellis’s take on Emery was a ringing endorsement. Said after speaking with top forwards that EJ was the toughest d-man to get around and even if they were able, Emery would run them.
Meanest player on the ice; nicest player off the ice.
"
Meanest player on the ice; nicest player off the ice."
See, that's not at all what I've read at all.
“I think he’s going to go firmly in the first. A big, long body, a very good skater. Very athletic.
A little bit of a tweener because he’s
not naturally nasty. He’s not an offensive guy. I think he defends well. I like him in transition and retrievals. He’s a first-round pick
for me.” – NHL scout, June 2024
EP Draft Guide quoted
"The other danger here is that in Emery’s recovery process on the rush, he’s not that difficult to play against
consistently. There were minimal flashes of mean but it doesn’t look terribly natural. So, we saw some players try to take
him outside-in on the rush after a failed pokecheck and Emery allowed them to “get corner” on him a bit more than
we’d like to see at the level of competition he was dealing with."
Black Book
"So, we have a 6’3” frame with huge athletic upside. He’s a better 1-on-1 defender than anything else.
E.J. isn’t a natural
mauler or big hitter despite how he often gaps up in the neutral zone. And the puck skills might actually be a stopper in
terms of NHL upside. His decisions with the puck put some caution on the overall hockey sense and mental processor
that this player offers as well."
Black Book
"Emery says he models his game after K’Andre Miller – and there’s some stylistic connection there – but Miller was bigger, meaner, and more skilled by a significant degree."
Black Book
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