E.J. Emery as born in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Emery played his amateur hockey at Yale Academy in Canada. In 2021-2022, he played 33 games and tallied 14 goals and 20 assists. Despite being Canadian, the 17-year-old defenseman, who holds dual citizenship through his parents, chose to play for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program's Under-18 team.
In 2022-2023, Emery played in 60 contests and scored two goals and 10 assists for the USA U17 team.
This past season, playing for the USA U18 team, Emery had 16 assists in 61 games. He was selected to play for Team USA in the WU18 and had six assists in seven games.
He is the son of former CFL linebacker Eric Emery.