Ty Emberson entered Edmonton last summer in the wake of duelling offer sheets for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, forcing the Oilers to pivot. Acquired from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a third-round pick and Cody Ceci, there weren’t massive expectations on Emberson when he arrived.

In fact, there was reason to believe that he was a big time breakout candidate. That didn’t quite occur for Emberson this year, but the 25-year-old showed he has room to grow. Offence isn’t a calling card and nobody was expecting that to be the case, as Emberson — who played under Kris Knoblauch for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack years ago — was known as a stay-at-home defenceman.

While the on-ice results didn’t highlight it as a major strength, with some poor goals against numbers, his individual impacts did. According to Hockey Viz, while Emberson drove offence at a five percent rate below league average, he supplied strong defence at a three percent rate above league average. Despite his penalty kill work being poor, at the rate of two percent below league average, his overall contributions had him as a high-end third-pairing defenceman, toeing the line of being a second-pair guy.

That’s about where he played for the Oilers this past season, and heading into this season, where he’s slotted to play once again. There won’t be much competition for Emberson for that sixth defenceman spot, with Troy Stecher being the one who will split some games with him.

It’ll be up to Emberson, however, to up his game to another level this season, as come the playoffs this year, he found himself bumped out of the lineup for John Klingberg, playing just nine games. He played all six against the Los Angeles Kings and the first three games, giving him a good taste of what playoff hockey looks like.

If Emberson isn’t able to elevate this year to a place where the Oilers feel comfortable with him as an everyday defenceman in the playoffs, it’s likely the team will look to the trade market to upgrade.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.