Oilers coach Knoblauch helped convince Stan Bowman to acquire young player in trade

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Liam McCormick
September 7, 2024 (1:46 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers moved Cody Ceci in a cap-dump trade with the San Jose Sharks, but also acquired a promising young player with the help of Coach Knoblauch.

The Oilers received Ty Emberson in exchange for Cody Ceci and a third round draft pick, and fans have some reason to be excited for the young defenceman. In a recent interview with Jason Gregor, General Manager Stan Bowman explained that Knoblauch played a role in convincing the team to acquire Emberson.

"It was a collaboration. I spoke to Kris a few times and our scouts, and I was familiar with him from my time scouting the US program. It was nice knowing Kris had that experience coaching him and he was a big fan of how Ty plays. He has a good skill set and he is in the age range where we haven't seen his best yet.»

Kris Knoblauch coached Emberson with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL during the 2022-23 season and had great success. Emberson won the award for best defensive defenceman in the conference that season, and it led to him earning his first run in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks last year. Emberson only played 30 games before missing the rest of the year with injury, but in his limited sample size, analytics say he excelled in playing heavy minutes in a shutdown role on a terrible team. Emberson is just 24 years old, and is signed to a one year contract for $950K.

It's been some time since the Oilers had a young defenceman who actually was a premier defender, so Emberson could be a great fit for the roster this year and moving forward. Kris Knoblauch and Stan Bowman both believe in him as a player, so he should get some reps in the top four to begin the upcoming season. Hopefully, he can surprise fans and turns out to be a big under the radar add for the Oilers.

Source for Stats: PuckPedia - Ty Emberson