When the St. Louis Blues inked Philip Broberg to an offer sheet worth $4.58 million annually over two years last week, the player the Edmonton Oilers were inevitably going to need to move out in order to match it was Cody Ceci.
Ceci signed with the Oilers in free agency on a four-year contract worth $3.25 million annually in the summer of 2021 after Adam Larsson joined the Seattle Kraken through the Expansion Draft. The veteran primarily lined up alongside Darnell Nurse on one of the team’s top defensive pairings but was moved down to the third pairing in favour of Broberg during the 2024 playoffs.
Before the offer sheets were made, the Oilers appeared to be heading into the 2024-25 season with Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm on the top pairing, Nurse and Broberg on the second, and Brett Kulak and Ceci forming a veteran third defensive pairing. However, with Broberg signing a contract with a much higher cap hit than expected, the Oilers needed to find a way to dump a contract.
They linked up on a deal that sent Ceci and a third-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for right-handed defenceman Ty Emberson, ultimately clearing the cap space needed to match Broberg’s offer sheet. A significant part of the swap here was Ceci leaving to make room for Broberg, but the Oilers also brought in an interesting young defenceman in the deal as well.
Emberson was selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round of the 2017 draft out of the United States Development Program. He spent three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, captained the team in 2020-21, and suited up for his country at the 2020 World Junior Championships. Here’s what Steve Kournianos had to say about Emberson ahead of the draft…
Quick puck rusher who reads plays at an extremely high level and knows precisely when to attack. Emberson’s combination of size and speed makes him a prospect with serious NHL upside. He loves to take the puck deep and makes the right choices, and he seems to identify and react properly when his partner is close to isolation. Emberson is a key cog to the NTDP’s top power play unit and has a high success rate with his zone entries. He’ll stay in him home state next season when he suits up for the Wisconsin Badgers.
After a difficult rookie season in the American Hockey League with the Tucson Roadrunners, Emberson was moved to the New York Rangers in a deal that saw the Coyotes receive two second-round draft picks to take on Patrik Nemeth’s contract.
Emberson’s play improved considerably after joining head coach Kris Knoblauch and the Hartford Wolfpack for his second season in the AHL. He scored seven goals and 27 points over 69 games and was named the AHL Eastern Conference’s Best Defensive Defenceman.
With Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, and Braden Schneider on the right side of New York’s blue line, Emberson had a challenging path to the NHL with the Rangers. The team placed him on waivers ahead of the 2023-24 season and he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks, a rebuilding team with plenty of ice time to go around.
Emberson quickly established himself as one of the better defenders that the Sharks had available and he logged top-four minutes, mostly alongside Mario Ferraro. Over 320 even-strength minutes together, the duo of Emberson and Ferarro posted a 12-to-13 on-ice goal differential, which was very good considering the team they were playing on.
Though his rookie season in the NHL was ultimately limited due to a foot injury, Emberson was a bright spot for a San Jose team that went 19-54-9. He scored one goal and 10 points over 30 games, logged an average of 18:33 per night, and had the best goal differential of any defender on the Sharks by a decent margin.
If Emberson can continue to play as effectively as he did in his debut with the Sharks, the Oilers won’t have subtracted much in this trade. The Oilers have the cap space to match Broberg’s offer sheet and they’ve also added a defender who appears to be capable of playing in Ceci’s spot on the third pairing.

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