Resetting expectations for Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ty Emberson

The Edmonton Oilers are four games into the 2024-25 NHL season and new acquisition Ty Emberson has played in three of them.

His time on ice (in all game states) per game: 20:15 (Game 1); 14:39 (Game 2); healthy scratch (Game 3); 10:21 (Game 4).

Based on those totals, Emberson needs to build some trust with coach Kris Knoblauch in the days to come.

He could be an important player for an organization carrying age and high salary on defence, or he could be a footnote in team history.

Among the team’s starting defencemen against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, only Emberson and Evan Bouchard (both 24, although Bouchard has a birthday this week) can be considered young NHL players. The next youngest starter on Tuesday was Darnell Nurse, who turns 30 in February.

Before the season, Emberson was thought to be the most likely second-pairing option, destined to play big minutes with Nurse.

That lasted two periods of Game 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. The concern over the Nurse pairing overwhelmed the pairing and led the coaching staff to try all other options. Here’s a look at the possession numbers by Nurse and each partner through four games.

All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick

Travis Dermott took over for Games 2 and 3 and Troy Stecher played with Nurse in the Philadelphia game. Nurse’s best game was on Tuesday.

It makes sense to fade Emberson with the team struggling. It also makes sense from an experience point of view — Emberson played 30 NHL games before the trade to Edmonton — but among members of the current roster, he has the most room to grow.

Meanwhile, Emberson played his second game with Brett Kulak on Tuesday. The pairing has also surrendered two goals at five-on-five, but the underlying numbers were much stronger in the games with Kulak.

All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick

This is a small sample, so sweeping conclusions are unwise. However, Kulak and Emberson’s expected goals are impressive and the 0-2 goals result suggests the pairing has been unlucky in their time together.

Despite the 0-2 goal results at five-on-five, Edmonton outshot opponents 17-9 in their time together. Nurse and Emberson were 2-6 shots.

When the Oilers made the trade with the San Jose Sharks (for Cody Ceci) in the summer, I wrote “an accurate statement about Emberson at this time: Speed, intelligence, great in coverage. Offence? Don’t expect Bouchard, but he might be able to hold his own as an outlet passer.”

Nurse is best deployed with a puck mover, and Emberson’s offensive ability was an intriguing headline around the time of the trade.

What happened in the first (and only) game Nurse and Emberson played together?

Emberson’s first shift was an excellent test for the young player. He and Nurse lined up for the opening faceoff and were in quick chase mode as the puck was immediately sent in to the right of Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner.

Emberson arrived at the puck a split second before a forechecking Winnipeg player and was tied up. Nurse was there to clean up the play and send the puck along the right side. Along the wall, about even with the faceoff circle, winger Connor Brown faced another Jets player. Brown moved the puck back behind the net, where Emberson was the closest to the pass.

Emberson sent the puck along the left side, and once again the Oilers winger (Mattias Janmark) was unable to negotiate the puck outside the line. This time a Winnipeg defender shot the puck behind the Edmonton net. Emberson retrieved, sent a long pass close to the Jets’ blue line, and the pairing was safely through its first shift.

If Emberson can make that sequence of plays consistently and stay healthy (he takes a large number of hits), he can play in the NHL for a decade.

Overall in the first period of his Edmonton career, Emberson made some good passes, had one notable giveaway, and was unable to intercept a deadly cross-ice pass from Nino Niederreiter to Mason Appleton, who delivered the Jets’ second goal of the period. He lacked awareness of the real danger on the play.

The young defenceman’s first audition on the second pairing lasted less than one game.

In the postgame media avail, Knoblauch addressed a question from The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman surrounding the play of Emberson. “Like a lot of our guys, he was just kind of there. Not positive or negative.”

Not a ringing endorsement, and the reduction in playing time over the four games indicates the coach’s thinking.

Knoblauch’s shuffle from Emberson to Dermott (for two games) and then Stecher (for the Philadelphia game) is a tell. The coach hasn’t found an answer, and Emberson could be next up if he plays well.

The Flyers game was another test.

Emberson didn’t play much five-on-five in the first (2:43, 1-1 shots) but did get a couple of minutes on the penalty kill (0-1 goals). Late in the second period, he and partner Kulak had a ghastly passing sequence that resulted in turnovers and a penalty called against Kulak. Through two periods, Kulak-Emberson had five clean minutes at five-on-five, 2-3 shots and a couple of chaos moments, one of which led to a penalty against them.

Early in the third, Kulak got undressed by Owen Tippett for a 10-bell chance. Emberson jumped into the play a couple of times but didn’t deliver an opportunity of note.

The top pairing (Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard) was the class of the Edmonton defence. Bouchard scored the tying goal and was firing the puck all night long. Ekholm made a brilliant defensive play late in the third period to secure the Oilers’ first point of the season.

On the second pair, Nurse had a strong game with Troy Stecher as his partner, and that could be enough to win the day — for now. Stecher won battles and stood up for his goaltender after another opponent crossed the line on Skinner (a developing story early this season).

Stecher did much more than Emberson or Dermott to secure the job on the Nurse pairing.

On the third pair, Emberson didn’t play a clean game, but showed more confidence in jumping into the play, and was mostly in good position when defending. The obvious misstep was the errant pass that contributed to an Edmonton penalty. His passing ability is coming to the fore as he settles in.

He was used sparingly overall. All of Ekholm (25:55), Bouchard (24:13) and Nurse (23:18) played huge minutes, with Kulak (16:46) and Stecher (14:43) trailing the three leading minute munchers.

Emberson was at 10:21 on the night.

It’s clear coach Knoblauch was less confident in Emberson than his other five blueliners.

Where does that put the young defenceman? Sixth or seventh, a far cry from the preseason talk of the second pairing.

He has been scratched once, it could happen again. There’s a lot to like about Emberson, but the calm feet shown with the Sharks (he was one of the better defencemen on that team a year ago) have yet to appear on a regular basis in Edmonton.

(Photo: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images)

Allan Mitchell is a contributor to The Athletic's Oilers coverage. Veteran radio broadcast. His blog, Lowetide, has chronicled the team since 2005. Follow Allan on Twitter @Lowetide