BLOG: Emberson embroiled in battle for valuable minutes on Oilers blueline

EDMONTON, AB – Ty Emberson might be one of the new guys in Oil Country, but the 24-year-old doesn’t feel new to the League anymore despite having only 30 career games of NHL experience.

“I think a lot of it is just being able to step into this season knowing that I've played in this League before, and I'm not the new guy in those first couple games,” he said after Wednesday’s fitness testing and medicals at Rogers Place.

For the Eau Claire, WI product, who comes into Training Camp this week with a chance at earning a big role on the blueline for the 2024-25 NHL season, it's a massive difference for the right-shot defenceman that's strengthening his resolve to lock down a highly coveted roster spot with the Oilers, who aim to immediately return to the Stanley Cup Final after last year's defeat in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers.

“I've played against a lot of these guys and it's just finding my routine, finding my composure and my steps in the right direction,” he added. “Last year, in the first couple of games of my NHL career, I was always trying to find my footing. But I think by the end of last year, I was very confident in my game and who I was.”

Emberson’s two-way toolkit as a strong, physical defenceman who can play on the penalty kill and distribute the puck saw the former captain of the NCAA’s University of Wisconsin Badgers record one goal, nine assists and a minus-four rating in 30 games with San Jose before suffering a lower-body injury that cost him the rest of his rookie NHL season.

"I think just my maturity, my puck play and managing the game," Emberson said. "Obviously, there are times to make plays, and there are times not to make plays, so I think just being able to understand that it's a long game and not every game needs to be won on a specific breakout or neutral-zone pass and that there are different times to make plays. I think just finding consistency in my game. It's one of the hardest jobs in the world, but it's exciting and just finding consistency and understanding who I am as a player and making sure that I can establish myself."

Despite the shortened campaign in '23-24, Emberson impressed during his nearly 20 minutes a night for the Sharks while trying to shut down some of the NHL’s elite opposition – including the Oilers – and earned himself a one-year extension in July for an average annual value (AAV) of $950,000.

When the call came almost five weeks later that the Oilers had acquired him in an off-season deal that included veteran defenceman Cody Ceci and a 2025 fourth-round pick, Emberson couldn’t be happier about the opportunity and the chance to begin competing for a Stanley Cup in Oil Country.

The defenceman has already developed a firm understanding of how the Oilers' standard has been raised in recent years with five straight playoff appearances, including last year’s appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, and is looking forward to diving even deeper into his new organization as he competes to claim one of the valuable blueline spots they have for grabs – most notably on the right side.

“It's exciting,” he said. “Just in the first week or two that I've been here, you can see why Edmonton is such a great organization and why they have been so successful in the last couple of years. You look at the leaders that they have here – you look at the skates that they put together and just the off-season summer skates – everyone's competitive, everyone's holding each other to a very good standard and it's an unreal experience.”

As he enters his first Oilers Training Camp, Emberson is staying focused on his process of trying to play his best game possible instead of trying to fill a role he knows is already filled.

"I'm a very big day-by-day guy," Emberson said. "Camp starts with day one, and then you move to day two and you take every opportunity with that passion that you can show up to the rink and try to contribute something to the team. I think I'm just trying to contribute in any way I can. Obviously, they have Bouch, who's a great power play guy, and I think I just want to contribute in the ways that maybe won't go as noticed: blocking shots, making hits, playing solid defensively and just contributing on the PK."

While it's a new organization for Emberson, the 24-year-old has a familiar face in Head Coach Kris Knoblauch, who coached him during the 2022-23 AHL season when both were members of the New York Rangers' AHL affiliate in the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Emberson praised Knoblauch's communication style during a successful year for both him and the Wolf Pack. The defenceman's 27 points (seven goals) in 69 games and two goals and five assists in nine post-season matches played a big part in Hartford's making it to the Atlantic Division Finals.

"Yeah, Chuck's been awesome," Emberson said of his now NHL coach. "So, obviously, I had him in Hartford, and we got along really well, so I think the way that he communicates with his players is very upfront, and he's clear in what he wants, and he's a personable coach who you can understand. You want to play for a guy like that, and in Hartford, we had a good year, and it was exciting.

"When the call came this summer that I got moved to Edmonton, he gave me a shout a couple of days later, so it's nice just to be able to touch base and have a familiar face in the room."

Emberson's first audition came on Thursday during the first on-ice sessions at Camp, where he was a partner to Darnell Nurse and showed his work rate by stepping in for extra reps when available. With Nurse confirmed to be out for at least the first few pre-season games, Emberson will get a healthy share of exhibition minutes in a bid to solidify his place on the Oilers roster.