Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, and Frederik Frandsen on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “NHL Draft”! Today we bring you our Emil Hemming Scouting Report.
During the NHL draft, a lot of factors play into when a certain player type is selected. Especially after the first 15 picks. Some teams, favour the safe pick with a high floor. Others tend to go for the home run swing with the risk of missing. Players with a lot of raw talent are often hoping for the latter type of teams to look their way. One of these potential longshots in the 2024 NHL draft is Emil Hemming. A big forward from Finland, who had a great season in the Liiga. Here, he played 40 games against men twice his age, without looking out of place. On top of that, he had 11 points with seven goals. An impressive total for one of the younger players in the draft.
Internationally, he also had a good year, playing for Finland at both the World Juniors and Under-18 championships. Especially at the Under-18 tournament he was impressive helping lead Finland’s offensive attack with six points in five games.
Emil Hemming 2024 NHL Draft Scouting Report
Right Wing— Shoots Right
Born June 27th, 2006 — Vaasa FIN
Height 6’1″ — Weight 206 lbs [186 cm / 93 kg]
Skating
One of the reasons for Emil Hemming’s rise this season has been his ability to improve his skating. This is especially so in terms of his acceleration and edges. In the past, it was a bit inconsistent where he never quite looked comfortable in his own skating style. In the last part of the season, however, he looked more balanced and smoother, making him faster and quicker.
The improvement also helped his transition game, where he has all you could want in a forward. He makes incredibly smart movement off the puck to get up and strong acceleration to win races for the puck. His handling of the puck at speed and nimble edges also allows Hemming to control the breakout in full with maturity and smarts. This is especially impressive, considering he is doing this against men and former NHLers. For a 17-year-old, that shows a lot about how refined his transition game is.
Offensive Game
Along with Hemming’s improvement and great skating, the offensive side is what most scouts have been praising the young Finnish forward. It’s smart, smooth, and most of all lethal. His shot is more than NHL-ready. It’s powerful and comes off the blade like it was shot out of a cannon. Especially off the one-timer, which brings some slight déjà vu to an Alex Ovechkin type of threat. Now Hemming more than likely won’t score 800 goals at the NHL level, but even having a slight comparison to the Russian, shows how good the shot is.
His creativity is also great as he uses silky smooth hands to control the offence. He isn’t scared to be confident and make plays which leaves defender’s jockstraps in the nosebleeds. However, the issue arises with what he does when the shot isn’t available. His passing is just okay, and while he is smart and aware, he misses passes far more than he should. It’s almost as if he loses his focus and that inconsistent nature will need similar improvements as his skating underwent this season.
Defensive Game
Like most other offensively talented wingers late in the first round, the defensive game is one of the main reasons why they aren’t in the top-ten. Emil Hemming is no exception, as he is extremely unreliable in his own end. An issue mostly stemming from inconsistencies and a lack of work ethic. He will sometimes look lost and overwhelmed, to the point he almost forgets to move. Also, despite having great size, he tends to lose battles along the boards. That is definitely the type thing that can’t happen in the NHL, if he wants to become a success.
Projection and Comparison Based on Emil Hemming’s Scouting Report
It’s hard to make a great projection on when Emil Hemming gets selected. If teams were to look at his raw toolset and talent alone, he would be a top-ten player. His shot, creativity, skating, and the improvements he made are extremely impressive. He is also a smart player with a lot of awareness and understanding in transition. All attributes that fit a player going in the top-20. Unfortunately the bad is a glaring red flag. His motivation defensively and his inconsistent passing are hard to look past. Without key improvements, his career might be one that remains in Finland. Therefore, it’s a risky pick for any team, but also one that could be worth taking for a player with a similar style as Tyler Bertuzzi. However, whether the ability matches the Canadian power forward, is something only time will tell.
Main photo credit: George Walker IV-USA TODAY Sports
