GDT: 2024 NHL Entry Draft - Day 2, 11:30 AM ESPN+ (Rangers Select EJ Emery)

[Hunter Gathers]

Weekes: "Well, they drafted a Sam in the past. Now they have another Sam."

 

[Profet]

4 hr event... Holy crap. NHL needs to figure this out.

 

[GAGLine]

You haven't seen a thing about his opinion.

He might be wrong.

No one knows right now.

Jesus.

I've seen his opinion on other players and yes, he is a clown.

He was the one who ragged the Othmann pick because he didn't put up a ton of points in the Swiss league. The guy has no clue how to evaluate players.

 

[Greg02]

If I'm Edmonton I am not making a trade that involves my 2026 pick going out.

 

[n8]

Did he thank the showgirl for taking his jacket? I missed it. It determines if he makes it or busts.

That doesn't look like a "thanks"

 

[gump116]

Like the emery pick, but wish we had just made the trade with the oilers that the flyers did. Would rather punt on the pick and have the asset for future trades or in case oilers collapse

 

[Matt Rentfree]

Emery still looks skittish with the puck, his puck poise is very low end, and his retrievals don’t give us a lot of confidence. Even with time and space, there’s no puckhandling that makes a forechecker hesitate for a second. His passing game is pretty average overall. There’s nothing creative about it and even the simpler short and medium passes don’t lead teammates into valuable ice. His partner support off of steals or sudden change situations is uninspiring too. Even if he doesn’t like to join the rush, at least provide some wide support or some light rotation up the weakside to give your teammates a better chance to get up the ice. On the rush, even if Emery has cover, he’ll bail out before the potential pay-off almost every time. His mechanically weak shot is accurately accounted for with his zero goals across 68 USHL, NCAA, and WJC games. For as good of an athlete as he is, there’s really no physical reason why he needs to put himself off balance and push the puck with his arms towards the net as often as he does. He could probably improve his shot a great deal if he was vested in the cause mentally and could apply it in-game. But again, the puck poise and confidence in his offensive game is so low that it shows through in the process and the mechanics. His passes rarely have zip on them either.

So, if we can’t trust that there’s offense coming, the defensive game is going to need to really scalable and really high end. There are elements to his defensive game that are extremely likeable. He’s a composed player with a very strong skating base. His range and four-way mobility allow him a lot of positive outs for defending. As such, he’s really good at rush defense right now. He can play rush absorption straight up or surf across to stop plays before they really have a chance to get going. That’s a big positive in his game. The thing to really watch for is the varied ability in which he defends rushes. In almost all rush absorption situations, Emery turns inside and pokechecks from the hip and then to recover will turn and go with the rush if he fails. That is a very effective strategy and a useful weapon to have in your defensive toolbox. The trouble is: does he have any other weaponry readily available? He doesn’t really show it. Why might this be problematic at a higher level? The best rush (attack) players in the world have a fairly simple goal in mind: They want to get defenders to turn their toes to then attack their heels. In order for Emery to pokecheck from the hip, he has to turn his toes. So, if his only strong play is to give up half the battle to strong rush attackers, he’s going to get adapted against pretty quickly. At best, that means he’d have to be pushed down the lineup to avoid top-end puck handlers. 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.

As mentioned, we think the recovery skating and first-step launch will continue to improve – so that will help, but even the best defenders in the world don’t get three chances to kill a play. So we’d like some more assurances that his recovery process after a missed pokecheck is going to mitigate the rush.

The in-zone coverage comes with the same positives and negatives. Emery is generally well-positioned, he’s not running around chasing hits, and he’s calm. There are instances where we’ve seen him go to the boards and break up a cycle with physicality – and that’s great. There is big upside in his walling off and box-out techniques, even if he’s not a mauler, his athleticism and skating base grant him that ability and he does it well for his age group. Again though, not the toughest guy to play against and then his inability to facilitate sudden change zone exits might extend shifts unnecessarily. The stick-led defense is definitely a plus. It’s a strong poke, it’s well timed, and well executed.

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. Even in lengthy in-zone coverage situations, there are moments when Emery seems to freeze for a couple beats trying to figure out what’s happening and even then he doesn’t always come away with neutralizing the biggest threat. 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. There’s just not enough obvious upside here to justify taking Emery too high.

 

[bl02]

You know what an 18 year old who already takes pride in his defense and is pretty hard to play against is not a bad thing. I rather have someone like that in the system than having to overpay a 30 plus year old with tons of miles to come in here and do that job.
And at pick 30?! Its fine.

 

[GAGLine]

Maybe we trade Kakko for a couple 2nds and pick Pulkinnen and Mustard.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Like the emery pick, but wish we had just made the trade with the oilers that the flyers did. Would rather punt on the pick and have the asset for future trades or in case oilers collapse

As noted brain genius Chayka literally said, "More picks are better."

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Kakko getting traded for Emerson Etem tomorrow

Comparables for Etem : k’andre Miller, EJ Emery, Kevin Weekes

 

[gravey9]

Hockey news write up

Tough defender who punishes opponents and plays a solid defensive game in Emery. He would become one of their best defensive prospects and give them a true stopper in the system. Emery isn’t a point producer, but he is an offense-killer for the opposing team.

In watching the few highlight packages, he does seem to share some similar attributes to K'Andre in his own zone. Long reach, good skating, likely will make it hard for opponents to get inside.

That said, K'Andre was a forward at first, had far more offensive flare at the same age. And maybe was even taller? What I care most about is his first pass. Can he help the team get out of the zone and handle the puck with confidence so the team can exit the zone? That's really, what we need. You can be great at shutting the team down, but if you're going to give the puck back or ice it every time like several of our "defensive D" on the roster, then it's an issue. But I like the length, his athleticism and the idea of a shutdown player. He seems like another somewhat raw prospect whose will to improve and athleticism is what we're betting on. Don't hate the thought process behind the pick. But I am very leery of picking players that remind us of other recent picks that were very successful. There's a risk of it turning out to be a bit lazy. If he's a poor man's K'Andre Miller than he'll be the next Matthew Robertson -- a AAAA who just doesn't have enough to be an impact guy.

I kinda wish we could have traded back and gotten a 2nd and a 3rd.

Oh well.

 

[gabevh3]

Maybe we trade Kakko for a couple 2nds and pick Pulkinnen and Mustard.

I prefer ketchup

 

[bl02]

View attachment 889075
That doesn't look like a "thanks"

a very smooth hand off of the jacket tho

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Wasn't expecting much with our pick but we got a stay at home dman with a high athletic motor, sounds like the perfect compliment for a guy like Jones.

 

[will1066]

View attachment 889075
That doesn't look like a "thanks"

It's an acknowledgment maybe. Good enough.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

In watching the few highlight packages, he does seem to share some similar attributes to K'Andre in his own zone. Long reach, good skating, likely will make it hard for opponents to get inside.

That said, K'Andre was a forward at first, had far more offensive flare at the same age. And maybe was even taller? What I care most about is his first pass. Can he help the team get out of the zone and handle the puck with confidence so the team can exit the zone? That's really, what we need. You can be great at shutting the team down, but if you're going to give the puck back or ice it every time like several of our "defensive D" on the roster, then it's an issue. But I like the length, his athleticism and the idea of a shutdown player. He seems like another somewhat raw prospect whose will to improve and athleticism is what we're betting on. Don't hate the thought process behind the pick. But I am very leery of picking players that remind us of other recent picks that were very successful. There's a risk of it turning out to be a bit lazy. If he's a poor man's K'Andre Miller than he'll be the next Matthew Robertson -- a AAAA who just doesn't have enough to be an impact guy.

I kinda wish we could have traded back and gotten a 2nd and a 3rd.

Oh well.

You're going to like Emery. He's one of the most hyper-athletic kids to come out in a while. His lower body strength is absurd. Like a NFL RB, frankly. He's almost unmovable when he's pinning a guy against the boards and he's incredibly powerful in front of the net.

He's a solid pick at 30. Let him cook at ND for 2 years.

 

[gabevh3]

Like the emery pick, but wish we had just made the trade with the oilers that the flyers did. Would rather punt on the pick and have the asset for future trades or in case oilers collapse

Could've traded down and then taken emery... but Drury does not trade down, only up

 

[will1066]

Comparables for Etem : k’andre Miller, EJ Emery, Kevin Weekes

Ray Emery

No relation to EJ Emery! --Sam

 

[effen]

"Defensemen who do not score very seldom make the NHL."

Sums it up tbh.

There are infinity guys who in their draft year went 3-19-22 141 PIM and made the show.

 

[McRanger92]

Could've traded down and then taken emery... but Drury does not trade down, only up

Leafs were going to take Emery next

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Could've traded down and then taken emery... but Drury does not trade down, only up

Emery would've went in the next two picks.

I'd actually love to find a way to trade up and take Elick, now, and stock the D pipeline (as Chayka would succinctly put it, more prospects are better than less). But that won't happen.

 

[effen]

I've seen his opinion on other players and yes, he is a clown.

He was the one who ragged the Othmann pick because he didn't put up a ton of points in the Swiss league. The guy has no clue how to evaluate players.

Hits "run" on his macro on his excel sheet and poof, 2%!
Wowee

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Disgusting that Jim Dolan told teams not to congratulate the p***ycats after being beated by them in the ECF.

 

[n8]

It's an acknowledgment maybe. Good enough.

It's official! We have the next Doug Harvey!