Emmanuel "Manny" Noveen Malhotra (born May 18, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
During his 18-year career, he played as a centre for the Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers. Malhotra was known as a two-way forward and for his faceoff proficiency, in which he won over 56% of faceoffs he took in the NHL.
Playing career Malhotra was drafted in the first round as the seventh overall pick of the 1998 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers. He joined the NHL after a two-year career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Guelph Storm, where he served as captain in his final year. Winning a J. Ross Robertson Cup championship and subsequently appearing in the 1998 Memorial Cup with the Storm, Malhotra also earned a Bobby Smith Trophy, George Parsons Trophy and Memorial Cup All-Star honours as a junior.
He played with the Rangers from 1998 to 2002. During this time he was assigned on numerous occasions to the team's AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with whom he won a Calder Cup championship in 2000. At the 2001–02 trade deadline, he was dealt to the Stars and spent parts of three seasons with the club. Beginning in 2003–04, Malhotra began to see increased offensive production, marked by his acquisition off waivers by the Blue Jackets. After four seasons in Columbus, he signed a one-year contract with the Sharks in September 2009. He recorded a career-high in goals with San Jose, before joining the Canucks on a three-year deal. In his first season with Vancouver, Malhotra suffered a major injury to his left eye, requiring several surgeries. Despite having lost a significant amount of his vision, he returned the same year to compete in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. He struggled to play with the injury until Canucks management placed him on the injured reserve for the remainder of the 2012–13 season in February 2013.
Internationally, Malhotra has represented Canada in under-18 competition, two World Junior Championships and one World Championship. Serving as team captain at the 2000 World Junior Championships, Malhotra led Canada to a bronze medal.
Guelph Storm Malhotra played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Mississauga Reps minor ice hockey team. After his time in the Metro Toronto Hockey League (MTHL), Malhotra was selected in the first round (17th overall) of the 1996 OHL Priority Selection, Malhotra played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Guelph Storm, beginning in 1996–97. He scored 16 goals and 44 points over 61 games in his rookie season. In the 1997 playoffs, he added 14 points in 18 games as Guelph lost in the semi-finals to the Ottawa 67's. The following season, he improved to 16 goals and 51 points over 57 games. He served as team captain while being assigned the primary role of shutting down opposing team's top forwards. Guelph advanced to the OHL Finals, where they defeated Ottawa in five games to capture the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Malhotra had 13 points in 12 games in the championship-winning playoff season. Earning a berth into the 1998 Memorial Cup, Guelph made it to the final, where they lost to the Portland Winter Hawks 4–3 in overtime. Malhotra ranked third in tournament scoring with a goal and seven points over five games. He was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team and was awarded the George Parsons Trophy as the tournament's most sportsmanlike player.
New York Rangers (1998–2002) In the off-season, Malhotra was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round, seventh overall, of the 1998 NHL entry draft. The Rangers scouted him as a strong, physical player with good hockey sense and character, comparing him to Adam Graves. He was surprised to have been selected by the Rangers, as they were one of the only teams to have not interviewed or met with him prior to the draft. He anticipated being drafted by the Calgary Flames at sixth overall, as the team's general manager, Al Coates, had previously drafted him into the OHL as general manager of the Storm.
With the 1998–99 season approaching, Malhotra had not yet signed an NHL contract with the Rangers by October. League rules stipulated that if he did not sign by October 8, 1998, he would be required to return to junior for the entire campaign. The night before the deadline, Malhotra and the Rangers agreed to a three-year deal worth the rookie maximum of $975,000 with performance-based incentives that could have increased his salary to $2 million. Making the immediate jump from junior to the NHL at age 18, he became the second player of Indian heritage to play in the NHL. Malhotra recorded 8 goals and 16 points over 73 games as a rookie.
During the season, the Rangers were interested in acquiring Vancouver Canucks forward Pavel Bure. It was reported that Canucks general manager Brian Burke had requested Malhotra to be involved in a trade that would have sent him along with Niklas Sundström, Dan Cloutier and the Rangers' first-round pick in the 1999 draft in exchange for Bure. However, Rangers general manager Neil Smith refused to include Malhotra and the deal never materialized.
The following season, Malhotra struggled to earn a regular spot on the Rangers' roster and was often a healthy scratch. Rangers head coach John Muckler publicly declared before the beginning of Malhotra's second NHL campaign that he would be nothing more than a career third-liner. Malhotra's potential was often at the centre of an ongoing dispute between Muckler and Smith.
Malhotra suffered an ankle injury in November that sidelined him for four games. Upon his recovery, his play was judged by team management to have suffered and he began to be benched. Meanwhile, the Canadian national junior team wanted the Rangers to loan him to them for the 2000 World Junior Championships. On December 12, 1999, general manager Neil Smith obliged and assigned Malhotra for the international tournament. He was then sent for a two-week conditioning assignment with the Rangers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. On March 14, 2000, he was sent back down to the OHL in order to retain his eligibility for later AHL assignment in the season. Malhotra had dressed for only four games in the two months between his return from the World Junior Championships in early-January and his junior reassignment. He was pointless in the 27 games total he played with the Rangers that season.
Returning to Guelph, he played in five regular season and six playoff games. Upon his junior club's first-round playoff elimination, he was reassigned to the Wolf Pack where he recorded 1 goal and 6 points over 12 games to finish the regular season. He then added 3 points in 23 post-season contests, helping the Wolf Pack to the franchise's first Calder Cup championship.
Malhotra returned to the Wolf Pack the following season after failing to make the Rangers' roster out of training camp. With New York deep at the centre position, his AHL assignment was predicated on him learning to play wing. He received numerous call-ups to New York and finished the 2000–01 campaign with 11 points over 28 games in the AHL and 12 points over 50 games in the NHL. The season also marked a management change as Glen Sather took over as general manager, marking the departure of Smith, who had drafted Malhotra and regarded him as untradeable during his tenure.
Fifty-six games into his 2001–02 season with the Rangers, Sather dealt Malhotra to the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline, along with winger Barrett Heisten, in exchange for forwards Martin Ručinský and Roman Lyashenko. Although he had established himself as an effective forechecker and defensive forward, Malhotra did not materialize into the offensive player the Rangers hoped he would be.
Dallas Stars (2002–2004) Malhotra welcomed the trade to Dallas as an opportunity for more playing time, as he was sparsely used with the Rangers. However, he saw limited success with the Stars. Following his trade, he recorded one point, a goal, in 16 games to finish the 2001–02 season. He was re-signed by Dallas to a two-year contract on June 27, 2002. In 2002–03, he recorded 10 points over 59 games. He appeared in his first Stanley Cup playoffs as the Stars qualified for the 2003 post-season as the top seed in the Western Conference. They were eliminated in the second round by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Columbus Blue Jackets (2004–2009) After going pointless in nine games early the following season, the Stars waived Malhotra on November 19, 2003. Two days later, he was picked up by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Malhotra improved with the Blue Jackets, notching 12 goals and 25 points over 56 games following the trade. He missed the final six games of the regular season with a bruised ankle. His ice time rose from an average of nine minutes a game with Dallas the previous season to 14 minutes in Columbus.
Due to the NHL lockout, Malhotra spent the 2004–05 season overseas in Europe. He initially signed with HDD Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia on October 8, 2004, and recorded 27 points over 26 games (including both Slovenian league and inter-league play). On December 12, he signed with HV71 of the Swedish Elite League. He notched seven points in 20 games with the club.
Returning to Columbus as NHL resumed play the following season, Malhotra spent 2005–06 centering Columbus' third line. Despite missing 24 games due to injury with back spasms in November and a shoulder injury in January, he improved his points total for the second-straight NHL season with 10 goals and 21 assists. The Blue Jackets re-signed him in the off-season to a three-year contract on June 20, 2006. In the first year of his new contract, he tallied nine goals and 25 points over a full 82-game season.
Malhotra missed 11 games with a recurring knee injury in December 2007. Late in the 2007–08 season, on March 17, 2008, he recorded a career-high three points in one game (two goals and an assist) in a 4–3 win against the Detroit Red Wings. He finished the campaign with 11 goals, 18 assists and 29 points in 77 games. Early in the 2008–09 season, Malhotra missed five games with a lower-body injury. He recorded a career-high 24 assists and 35 points over 77 games during the campaign. As Columbus was plagued with numerous injuries over the course of the season, Malhotra was used on various lines while also in a shutdown role, playing against top opposing forwards.
San Jose Sharks (2009–2010) His contract was not renewed by the Blue Jackets in the 2009 off-season and he became an unrestricted free agent. After failing to sign with an NHL team, Malhotra accepted an invitation to the San Jose Sharks' training camp on September 17, 2009. Five days later, he signed a one-year, $700,000 deal with the team. He went on to record a career-high 14 goals and +17 rating, along with 19 assists for 33 points, in his only season with the Sharks. He centred the team's third line and earned time playing wing on the powerplay. However, the Sharks did not re-sign him and he became an unrestricted free agent for the second consecutive summer on July 1, 2010. Looking back on his time in San Jose, Malhotra called it the "most enjoyable season [he's] had as a pro", being able to play for a winning team and have a long playoff run for the first time in his NHL career.
Vancouver Canucks (2010–2013)
On the first day of free agency on July 1, 2010, Malhotra signed a three-year, $7.5 million deal with the Vancouver Canucks that included a no-trade clause. Malhotra was named an alternate captain during away games for the Canucks before the season began. He scored his first goal as a Canuck on October 22, during a 5–1 win against the Minnesota Wild.