“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.”