BSH 2024 Community Draft Board, No. T-26: EJ Emery

At long last, we’re wrapping up talking about this group of players who came in tied for the 26th spot on our draft board. The last of the four, EJ Emery, is an interesting case. One of the true defensive defensemen in this group of top prospects, he brings valuable size and right handedness, which will be enticing for many an organization, surely, but he also brings some untapped potential, which might well elevate him in some of these teams’ rankings. Let’s get into it.

Pre-draft rankings

No. 23 by Chris Peters (Flo Hockey)
No. 24 by FC Hockey
No 31 by Elite Prospects
No. 39 by Bob McKenzie (TSN)

Statistics

What’s there to like?

As we said, the hallmark of Emery’s game, as it stands, is his already well developed defensive play. He’s already pretty solid in his frame (he’s listed at 6’3 and 185 pounds, so there’s still some room to fill out as well), and he uses his size well to his advantage. He can be physical at times, to be sure, but more often we see his size working for him in his reach, how well he’s able to use his stick to disrupt plays and force turnovers in turn. He’s a smart defender, and has shown a real strength in closing off opponents along the wall, and just broadly seems to have a solid defensive awareness when settled into the defensive zone.

And all of this isn’t to say that he’s just one of the big, slow, stay at home defensemen of old, hardly so. In fact, Emery is a very strong skater, fluid in his motions and already having good speed and power to his stride, and this certainly adds another level of depth to his game. That speed and fluid stride make him an excellent defender on the rush, as he’s able to close in and gap up on opponents quickly, and then get to work to push them off the puck, or chip the puck away from them. He doesn’t overcomplicate these types of plays, and he’s found some good consistency in his positive impacts herein.

Emery has also, in flashes, shown some offensive upside. Now, his scoring numbers from this season might tell another story, but stick with us here. Emery has not established himself as a big scorer at the junior level, to be sure, and questions of how that part of his game will translate to the college and then professional levels are certainly open. But Emery has shown pops of having an effective shot, be it from distance or on redirects in close, and he’s also shown a bit in the way of playmaking from the perimeter. And combining that with his already well developed skating game, there are a number of scouts who see some potential there for more of a well rounded offensive game to be coached out of him. He likely won’t ever be putting up big numbers like some of the defensemen we’ve already talked about on this board, but there’s still a chance that the right team could get more out of him, and that would very quickly elevate his stock.

And finally, for those who get really into the results at the Scouting Combine, Emery was a real standout there. Here, he won the vertical, horizontal and no arm jump tests, and finished top-10 in three others (in a group of nearly 100 participants, mind you).

What’s not to like?

The biggest knock on Emery comes around the fact that there isn’t much offense to his game. Now, as we alluded to earlier, other areas of his skillset would suggest that there may well be some untapped potential in him for more offense, but it’s going to take some work to bring that out of him. So, for that reason, he’s going to be a bit of a project, his development is likely going to take a bit longer, and it’s going to take the right development staff to coach him up to his ceiling. So it’s going to need to be something of a perfect storm, a perfect circumstance, to really elevate him as a player, and that’s a risk, but the potential for reward is certainly there as well.

And, related to that, pundits are also a bit torn on his projection. There are some that would have him becoming, at best, a good third pair shutdown guy at the NHL level, and that’s absolutely where he’ll max out, while others think he can continue to develop into a more well rounded defenseman, can bring out some of that offense, and as such can become more like a good second pair player, if all breaks his way. Again, this all hinges on his ability to continue to develop, but it’s worth noting that there are some evaluators that are more bullish about him perhaps not being able to do that.

How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?

We’ve talked a lot in this series so far about the more offensively minded defensemen that the Flyers have in the system, between the NHL level and the prospect pipeline, and there really are many, as this appears to be a model of player that the organization favors. That said, they do still seem to put a premium on finding their next sort of shut down, stay at home defender. They’ve brought in a rotating cast of veterans at the NHL level to hopefully address this need in the short term, and they’ve been clearly mining the pipeline to try and find the next one they can develop up internally.

So, even if Emery doesn’t develop the dynamic offensive game, as it stands with his defensive acumen and his position (right handed) alone, he checks some boxes for what the Flyers are looking for, in order to provide some balance for all of the offensive defensemen they already have around. That might well be enough to have them considering taking a shot on him.

Could the Flyers actually get him?

The projections for where Emery is expected to go are pretty wide ranging, but he’s largely expected to be one of the late first round or early second round picks, which means he should well be an option for the Flyers to grab with their second first round pick, should they so choose.

What scouts are saying

Emery is a plus-level skater with athletic genes (he’s the son of former CFL linebacker Eric Emery) and a projectable makeup given his size, handedness and two-way quality. His offense isn’t natural but he has taken enough steps in the way he sees the ice and moves pucks to complement his other two-way pro qualities. Emery is capable of owning his ice defensively (though he has been inconsistent in really taking charge at times), continues to show growth handling and transporting pucks and has major steps that he can continue to take in his development (which does come with some risk if he doesn’t take them). And while his skill level isn’t a strength, he has shown good instincts on when to jump into the play, he’s owed a little more in terms of counting stats, and he defends and skates well enough to project as an effective five-on-five defender and potential penalty killer. Though Emery was raised and developed in British Columbia and his mom is Canadian, his dad is American and he chose the NTDP-to-college route and has committed to the University of North Dakota. He’s going to need time and patience to develop the finer qualities of his game and learn to impose himself more consistently on both sides of the puck, but there’s some upside there.
Scott Wheeler, The Athletic

Emery absorbs and erases opposing rushes with smooth backward strides and a stable, perfect posture. Stick in front of him, extended but not overreaching, he pushes opponents wide and pivots onto them, knocking the puck away with a precise pokecheck.
EliteProspects 2024 NHL Draft Guide

Welcome to the poll…

Buckle in folks, this is about to be a doozy. A four-way tie meant that four players came off the poll together, so four new ones have to hit the poll all at once. Let’s do a quick rundown:

Teddy Stiga. LW. US NTDP

Teddy Stiga was a close contender for the most improved prospect this season. He ramped up his play rapidly during the first months of the season, forcing us to slowly push him up our board until he cemented himself in our first round.

A first-round placement may now seem aggressive to some NHL scouts, considering Stiga’s physique and lack of elite tools, but we believe in his profile. He’s exactly the kind of player who will figure out how to be effective and earn minutes no matter the level of play.

He’s just too smart to be shut down.

Henry Mews. D. Ottawa 67s

We thought Henry Mews had a good chance to be a first-round prospect coming into the season. And, for a time, that’s where he seemed destined to finish the year.

There’s a lot to like in Mews’ offensive game. Every time his teammates turn to look for a passing outlet, he’s right there in a pocket of space. He walks the line and skates all over the opposing zone in search of passing plays and shooting lanes. And he’s got enough deception and shiftiness to beat defenders 1-on-1, veil his plays, and complete them at a high rate…

There’s a risk that Mews ends up a Quad-A type of player, stuck between the AHL and the NHL, without the ability to win a long- term role with the franchise that takes him in this year’s drat.

That said, the defenceman’s all-around projectable tools, offensive inclination, and playmaking talent does give him significant upside, too. With some work on his defensive zone play and risk management, Mews could become a number four, two-way force, and an enabler of his team’s offence.

Charlie Elick. D. Brandon Wheat Kings

There were two Charlie Elicks this season: The steady, calm international presence and the vicious, high-activity WHL defenceman. That level of adaptability speaks to Elick’s maturity as a player, but this ranking emphasizes the exciting potential of the WHL version.

Physical, proactive defence is Elick’s game. He’s an explosive backward and lateral skater, which he uses to instantly take the middle, then teleport across the ice and prevent the entry. His stick is seemingly in every lane, tipping every pass or shot inside his wing span. His mobility allows him to stay tight to the off-puck threat, but then easily win the race to a retrieval at the end boards. But pressure isn’t his only trick; he understands when to mitigate risk by steadily eliminating space.

Cole Beaudoin. C. Barrie Colts

He’s one of the strongest players in the draft class. Maybe the strongest of the prospects that will be drafted in the first couple of rounds. He eats up the boards, grinds them, spins off opponents, drags the puck out of traffic, and gets it to the middle of the ice. There’s not a battle that he can’t win, even when at a numbers disadvantage. And he drives the net, creating chaos there, tipping shots, and getting open for tap-ins.

His impact is felt in all three zones. When opponents try to escape with the puck, all they hear are his heavy boots slamming the ice to catch up to them. He crushes them on the boards, comes back around to lift their stick and gets possession back.

Beaudoin is nightmare fuel for the opposition and a coach’s dream.

We could see Beaudoin overshoot his bottom-six projection and land in an NHL top-six somewhere. Not necessarily because of high-level skills, but because he will provide the spark that ignites the talents around him. He could act as the puck-retriever, shutdown defender, and the net-front battler on his line. And he could score a surprising number of points playing these roles.

[All quotes courtesy of the Elite Prospects Draft Guide]

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Previously on the 2024 Community Draft Board…