EDMONTON — And they don’t stop coming.
The Edmonton Oilers made two intriguing trades on Sunday. The first involved sending a fifth round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Vasily Podkolzin. The second raised more eyebrows, with Cody Ceci being sent off to the San Jose Sharks for Ty Emberson.
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The fact that the Oilers only needed a third round pick as a sweetener for a team to take on Ceci is one thing. It’s another that they got an incredibly useful player back in return.
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Emberson is a young and steady defenseman who is just getting his feet wet at the NHL level. The 24-year-old right-handed defenseman played 30 games for the Sharks last season. They were impressed enough at his performance to sign him to a one-year $950,000 extension back on July 11th.
Unfortunately, Emberson’s season was cut short on February 29th because of a lower body laceration. According to The Hockey News’ Max Miller, his offseason training has not been limited and he is perfectly healthy for training camp.
This might seem like a small trade, but it has the potential to be a home run swing.
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Despite only playing 30 games last year, there is a lot to like about Emberson. Of all Sharks defenders to play 30 or more games, he had the best dangerous fenwick for percentage (DFF%) with 46.8%. Next best was Mario Ferraro at 40.3%.
Emberson played 56% of his time on ice in San Jose paired with Ferraro. The duo had an impressive goal share of -1. Meaning, the duo was only outscored by one goal when they were on the ice. That’s impressive considering that the Sharks were the worst team in the NHL last season.
In the 2022-23 season Emberson was selected as the best Defensive Defenseman of the AHL’s Eastern Conference. He played for the Hartford Wolf Pack under now Oilers head coach, Kris Knoblauch.
Emberson played on the penalty kill with the Sharks. In his stint he averaged 1:06 a game on the penalty kill.
Emberson has some offense to his game as he scored 10 points in his 30 games. Prorated over an 82 game season, that would be 27 points.
Finally, in his 30 game sample with the Sharks, Emberson put up better defensive numbers than Ceci.
Evolving Hockey.
In the above graph it’s important to know that this is all based on averages. In both expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) and Corsi against per 60 minutes (CA/60), Emberson is above average while Ceci is below the league average. Both of these metrics are directly linked to limiting scoring opportunities on the opposition.
Not only did the Oilers shed some cap space, but they also got younger and better defensively. The next 24 hours are going to be interesting in Oil Country as the hockey world waits to see how this trade affects the offer sheet threat from the St. Louis Blues.
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