New York Rangers 2024 First-Round Draft Pick Lacks Statistical Success At The NCAA Level
The New York Rangers drafted EJ Emery 30th overall in the 1st-round of the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas.
What they got, they knew what Emery had in store, despite not being an offensive threat. This season, he played his first year of collegiate hockey in the NCAA with the University of North Dakota.
EJ Emery struggled during his 1st-season in the NCAA with North Dakota, only scoring 1 point in 40 games with his new home.
Is EJ Emery's Development an Issue? Not so, according to the Rangers
While this could be troubling for some NHL player development, Rangers personnel Jed Ortmeyer and the team aren't concerned about his lack of offensive output.
"I don't think his game is measured on production," Ortmeyer said via Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "It's his ability to defend and play in all situations in terms of penalty killing, playing against other team's top players and shutting them down, being hard to play against. He's so focused on working from the (defensive) zone out."
Instead of believing that Emery had failed as a defenseman, he believes he showed plenty of promise at the collegiate level.
«He had a really good year. He's one of the youngest defensemen in college hockey as a true freshman,» Ortmeyer said. «It's a tough league he was playing in. He was able to step in and have a big role and play big minutes for them. I think his development is heading in the right direction and he's on a great path at a great school. We are excited about what he's doing and where he's going.»
We hope Ortmeyer is correct, as Emery is a product of the US NDTP and played two seasons with that program before he was selected by the New York Rangers.
Emery would play 66 games and score 15 points for the US NDTP in that time frame, as it's been obvious that he plays more of a shutdown style of the game, rather than a two-way "rover" like we've seen out players like Zach Werenski.
Previously on NY Hockey Insider
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 4 | 42 ANSWERS New York Rangers 2024 First-Round Draft Pick Lacks Statistical Success At The NCAA Level Do you think defenseman EJ Emery, a New York Rangers prospect, will grow into a great NHL-ready defenseman? | ||
| Yes | 32 | 76.2 % |
| No | 10 | 23.8 % |
| List of polls | ||