Emmanuel Noveen Malhotra (born May 18, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who is currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is a former assistant coach of the Vancouver Canucks. He last played with the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL) on a try-out basis. 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 the 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. Malhotra holds the distinction of being the last active player to have been a teammate of Wayne Gretzky. 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