Emerson Etem: 2010 NHL Draft Profile and Scouting Report

Emerson Etem, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

Position: Center | Height: 6-foot-0 | Weight 194 lbs
FanHouse Ranking: No. 14 | Age: 17 | Hometown: Long Beach, California

More: Top 35 Prospects | Full 2010 NHL Draft Coverage

Emerson Etem 2009-10 Stats
	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Regular Season	72	37	28	65
Playoffs	12	7	3	10

The reach of hockey in the United States continues to grow, as evidenced by kids like Etem, who hails from Long Beach, Calif.

Etem's road is a winding one. At 14, he left home to play for the Shattuck-St. Mary's program, based in Faribault, Minn. From there, he moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., and the U.S. National Team Development Program, and then the CHL's Western Hockey League.

He had a great rookie season for the Tigers, scoring 37 goals and adding seven more during Medicine Hat's playoff run. Etem's ability to fill the net with pucks has been there since he was a teenager, and as he gets older, he will only get better at scoring goals.

He has a quick, lethal, accurate wrist shot, and if he can improve his skating ability, there's no doubt he'll be a star in the NHL. In fact, there are some scouting reports that indicate he's close to Taylor Hall's ability when it comes to scoring goals, but only his skating is holding him out of the top 10 of this draft.

It might sound like a back-handed compliment, but remember that Brett Hull wasn't considered a very good skater when he played juniors. He turned into a pretty decent player.

Etem might not be half that good in the NHL, but remember that you can learn how to skate. You can't teach the kind of knack around the net Etem has.