EDMONTON — Ty Emberson should have been a referee.
Because for now — just 65 games into what might just turn into a long and steady NHL career — he’s happiest when you’re not even sure that he dressed for the game you just watched.
“If someone says, ‘Hey, I didn’t notice Emberson that much tonight,’ it’s probably a good thing,” the Edmonton Oilers defenceman said, heading into Friday’s home game against the Anaheim Ducks. “If I was quiet, if I was making the good passes and I didn’t get beat anywhere, didn’t turn the puck over…
“Sometimes it’s good to get noticed. Other times it’s good not to get noticed.”
Meet Ty Emberson, the quiet acquisition by GM Stan Bowman who might turn into a steal, at some level.
The biggest thing we noticed about Emberson when he arrived in the trade for Cody Ceci this past summer? He had 30 games on his NHL resume, compared to Ceci’s 786.
How was this trade — other than the $2.3 million cap space it provided the Oilers — going to help a team that is planning on winning a Stanley Cup this season? A solid vet for an unproven rook — then Vincent Desharnais and Philip Broberg moved on, and it became clear that this Emberson cat was going to have to play, like, right away.
Well, fast forward to today, and the Oilers are trying to lock up the 24-year-old to a new contract.
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“My agent mentioned something to me about that a couple days ago,” Emberson said. “If it happens to work out, I’d be excited. I love it here … and hopefully can spend more time here.”
Today, Edmonton finds itself with a defensive defenceman, aged 24, who is barely scratching the surface of what he may one day become. He looks like a sure-fire, third-pairing guy on most any D-corps in the National Hockey League right now.
Where will his game be at 200 games? At 300 games?
Who could possibly say?
“The first 20-25, games, he was kind of finding his way. Looking,” said veteran Mattias Ekholm. “‘Where do I slot (in)? Where do I fit? How am I supposed to play to help this team?’ Now, you see where he excels within his game.”
Ekholm was a youngster himself a dozen seasons ago, albeit with far more physical tools to work with. He remembers being the guy that played well and got a press box seat the next game, simply because the team needed to make a change and he was the low man on the totem pole.
“Your first 100 games have got to be the hardest ones,” Ekholm recalled. “Sometimes you’re just out there not to make a mistake. You’re just trying to stay in the lineup, get some traction, maybe get five games in a row. Six games in a row. Then your skill and your risk-taking can take over.”
Which takes us back to Emberson, who is listed as six-foot-two and 190 lbs.
I stood next to him, and he was in stocking feet. I’m five-eleven. He was not taller than me.
How much does he weigh? He’s small-ish, but sure, he could be 190.
The size that matters here, however, can not be calibrated. It’s the confidence that will take him the furthest with his coaches, and his belief in his own game.
“Once you get more confidence, you get a little bit longer leash with your ice time and your coaches, then you can make the plays that are a little more high risk. That might not always work out. Try to slip it to the middle, versus making just a simple indirect play,” said Emberson, who has played all but two games this season.
“It comes with confidence, the timing of joining the rush, making sure that I’m in the right spot — not too far ahead or too far back. Leon and Connor will get you the puck if you’re in the right spot.”
We’re not sure there won’t be more offence in his game one day, but for now, he has the prerequisites of an effective NHL defenceman in 2025: He can skate, he makes a nice pass, he’s smart, and he has some courage as well with a couple of scraps this season.
In the waning moments of a New Year’s Eve game, with the Utah goalie on the bench, Emberson carried the puck out of his zone. He looked to his right at Viktor Arvidsson, and the Utah skaters all edged that way in anticipation of a simple pass.
Emberson double-clutched, looked to his left and saw a suddenly wide-open Draisaitl. He whipped a pass right on Draisaitl’s tape, and the big German walked in for an easy empty netter.
“It’s an open net goal,” Ekholm said. “But he could have just flipped that out, taken a change and called it a day. But he made a move and held on to the puck, found Leon, and game over.
“It’s hard for me to tell where his offensive abilities lie … but as a defensive defenseman, he’s got all the tools in the world to be a top defensive defenseman in this league for years to come.”
It’s a small play. But it’s a big play, you know?
“Back in Game 1, I probably would have been, ‘I have the puck. I’ve got to get rid of it,’” Emberson said. “Even if … it wasn’t going to be a good play anyways. I probably would have gotten rid of it.
“Now, I have the confidence to be able to look at that, then find a new option.”
A new option.
It looks like Bowman may have just found one.
