Emelin joins KHL

[Spider-Man NL]

Veteran defenceman Alexei Emelin is heading to the KHL, signing a three-year contract with Avangard, the league announced on Sunday. 

 

• NHL

6h ago

 

Veteran D Emelin joins KHL

TSN.ca Staff

 

Alexei Emelin , Francois Lacasse/National Hockey League/Getty Images

Veteran defenceman Alexei Emelin is heading to the KHL, signing a three-year contract with Avangard, the league announced on Sunday.

The 32-year-old spent last season with the Nashville Predators, scoring one goal with eight assists over 76 games. He also appeared in 10 playoff games.

 

Prior to the Preds, Emelin spent the first six years of his career with the Montreal Canadiens, scoring 14 goals and 58 assists over 380 games. The Russian also had one goal and four assists over 29 playoff contests.

The Habs selected Emelin in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. 

 

 

 

[Spider-Man NL]

Over his six years with the Habs Emelin was one of my favorite players. I will fondly remember the countless times he caught Lucic with his head down and the one time he obliterated Stastny

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Guys like Emelin seem to be a dying breed in the NHL...well, at least few and far between.

And that is to say, guys who are basically all about the rugged style of defense that makes attacking forwards think twice about which route they are gonna try and take towards the opposing net.

 

Sure, everyone likes the fancy scoring defenders, with their quick outlet passes and penchant for jumping up on the play when you least expect them to....but there should ALWAYS be a market for the type of defender a guy like Emelin is:

Tough, stay at home, no nonsense, not afraid to hit ANYONE from Crosby or McDavid down to Shitterberg or Turdemov...if you get my drift.....
He just didn't care what your name was, what you've done before, or whether you were a generational talent or some plug playing on the 4th line.... he was just gonna hit you hard if he could manage to catch you....

 

Ahhh, but there was the rub with him.

For as much as I like guys who play the style he does (and guys like Gudas and Scandella too, just as other examples), Emelin could often times be taken advantage of by the quicker and smarter forwards....and get burned pretty badly if he made a mistake, as big ol Emelin simply did NOT have the skating speed, IMO, to recover from mistakes in his coverage or a badly line up hit that ended in a fail.

And since he doesn't offer much in the way of offense, and his point shot seemed average at best, that pretty much left him relegated to patrolling against 3rd and 4th liners in an ideal situation...or at the very least with less ice time against higher level competition, lest the more elite players dissect him more easily the more times they see him out there.

 

This means that even in this highly mobile, offense first environment that D-men find themselves in, a guy like Emelin CAN be replaced by someone, who, perhaps not being an equal to him as a hitter, but certainly hit well enough, plus provide other weapons for the team.

 

I can certainly see how a guy like Emelin can be a fan favorite if you like tough-syle hockey (I still feel that way about Scandella whom I used as an example earlier), but ultimately, unless they have something more than just hitting (and shot blocking....Emelin was pretty good there too), they can become expendable in the NHL and be passed over for guys who can do  somewhat what they can...plus more.

Good luck to him in the KHL.
Hey...any guy who will hand Lucic his lunch in a big collision is alright in my book..  

[Spider-Man NL]

Canadiens got another kid in the system (Alexader  Romanov)   that plays just like Emelin but hes a fast skater.

[yave1964]

I always loved the way that he hit, once he destroyed a rookie Larkin of my Wings who was skating with his head down in what can only be called a 'welcome to the NHL' moment. I am a Wings fan and still respected the hit. Same game, he destroyed Bertuzzi. When he was on, he was a force.  Always loved a player not afraid to put a shoulder down and play the body, they are becoming rare in todays game. Sadly his speed could be clocked with a sundial and the game is all about speed now and his type just does not fit. Kronwall lite, as it were, anyone who knows me knows how much I have always loved the type. Sadly, a dying breed. Hitting in hockey is like pitching inside in baseball or helmet hits in Football, quickly becoming a thing of the past. I get it, I really do, but I miss it.