Defenseman will become University of North Dakota’s 1st Black player in 3 decades this fall
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LAS VEGAS -- EJ Emery, the New York Rangers' first-round pick in the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Friday, said he would have loved to play with Willie O’Ree.
“As a Black man growing up, there aren’t too many in hockey, and he was one of those figures I was able to look up to, and he’s the first person I got [an autograph] from,” Emery said.
O’Ree made history when he became the first Black player in the NHL when he debuted with the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Jan. 18, 1958.
Emery, a defenseman for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team, will become a trailblazer when he plays for the University of North Dakota this fall.
The 18-year-old from Surrey, British Columbia, will become North Dakota’s first Black player since Akil Adams during the 1993-94 season.
“The coaches and the fans, and obviously the team, made me feel at home and I know they’re going to look out for me,” Emery said. “I felt safe there. It’s the best option.”
Emery (6-foot-3, 183 pounds) said being selected by the Rangers with the No. 30 pick was one of the best outcomes he could have hoped for. He and scouts say his game is similar to New York defenseman K'Andre Miller, another NTDP alumnus.
Emery drafted by New York Rangers
“I would say I’m really good at being a lockdown guy, someone who can shut down plays, get the puck up the ice and make plays.” Emery said. “I model my game after K’Andre Miller, so I’m not complaining about wearing this jersey.”
A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Emery had 16 assists in 61 games for NTDP U-18 team this season. He had one assist in four games at the 2024 U-18 Five Nations Championship in Plymouth, Michigan, in February. He also had two assists in four games at the 2023 U-18 Five Nations Championship in Finland in November.
John Lilley, the Rangers' director of player personnel and director of amateur scouting, said the team thought Emery’s defensive game was the best in the class.
“He ends plays and, to me, he’s an elite defender,” Lilley said. “He’s a guy we had high on our list, and we’re excited to get him.”
Emery is still a work in progress. Lilley said attending North Dakota will give Emery time to refine his game, fill out and become stronger.
He comes from an athletic lineage; his father, Eric Emery, a Shreveport, Louisiana, native who grew up in Compton, California, played college football for California State University, Fullerton.
The elder Emery later was a linebacker for the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League from 1985 until 1987.
“EJ is very a talented young man,” Lilley said. “He’s raw, very athletic, just starting to come into his own. He’s just becoming a man. … It’s there. He just has to put the work in and get man strength. … But the foundation is there, for sure.”
