Habs: Emelin's Passing-percentage a Concern

Strong stick hasn't translated into strong passing
Alexei Emelin is a 25 year-old rookie defenseman with years of experience playing professional hockey. He's a great hitter with a strong-stick, who brings a mean-streak to the Montreal Canadiens defense-core that no other player offers on a consistent basis. He hits to punish; and he has the balance, timing and skating ability to do just that. The only other Habs d-man with a hint of Emelin's mean-streak would be PK Subban.
That said, Emelin's passing-percentage through 40 games is the lowest of any defenseman on the roster. In fact, his passing-percentage in every zone is below the team average. The biggest concern remains his d-zone passing-percentage. He completes only 67% of his d-zone pass-attempts. The team average is 71%. But, the realistic expectation is in the neighbourhood of 75%, as this is the success-rate produced by fellow d-men Subban, Josh Gorges and Tomas Kaberle.
Emelin wins 56% of his defensive-zone puck-battles; the fourth-best success-rate among Habs defensemen. Only Josh Gorges blocks more opposition passes in the defensive-zone per-minute of ice-time than Emelin, while only Gorges, Hal Gill and Diaz block more shots per-minute of ice-time.
Emelin remains a developing defenseman who will only get better. Hopefully, experience gained this season will serve him well moving forward. He brings a much-needed element to the team. An improved d-zone passing-percentage will go a long way to decreasing the amount of time he spends in his own zone, while increasing his overall ice-time.