A young blueliner has hit a notable milestone.
On Saturday afternoon against the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ty Emberson appeared in the 100th game of his NHL career.
It was the 70th game of the season for Emberson, who came to the Oilers this past August as part of the trade that saw Cody Ceci and a 2025 third-round draft pick get sent to the San Jose Sharks. Prior to the deal, Emberson appeared in just 30 games with the Sharks, all coming in the 2023-24 campaign.
The 24-year-old has been a decent depth piece on the back end this season. Even in his limited role, which has seen him average a little under 15 minutes per game, Emberson has registered 10 assists so far, though he has a plus/minus of -8.
The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native is on a one-year contract that he signed with San Jose last July, which has a cap hit of $950,000. He’s set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this coming summer. According to CapWages, Emberson’s minimum qualifying offer would come around $997,500. Yet, Oilersnation’s Tyler Yaremchuk speculated earlier this season that a reasonable deal for both sides could be a three-year contract with an AAV around $1.6-million.
Even in his brief tenure in northern Alberta, Emberson has taken a liking to Edmonton. When speaking to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector back in January, Emberson admitted that he loves playing for the Oilers and “hopefully can spend more time here.”
Emberson’s offence has been pretty quiet as of late, having not registered a point in 15 appearances. His last assist came in a 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 22.
In the first 100 games of his career, Emberson has one goal and 19 assists for 20 points, with a -12 rating.
Emberson was originally taken by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft. Before making his NHL debut last season, Emberson spent time in the American Hockey League with the Coyotes’ primary affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. The University of Wisconsin product spent one year with the Hartford Wolf Pack after he was traded by the Yotes to the New York Rangers for Patrik Nemth and two picks in July 2022.
Emberson was claimed off waivers by the Sharks from the Rangers in September 2023.
