It was revealed that the Oilers are scratching Emberson for a second straight game when the Oilers face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. He was traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Oilers in exchange for veteran defenseman Cody Ceci. The Oilers organization felt they needed to give themselves some cap relief and moving Ceci would be beneficial.
After the deal was made, many pundits and some fans felt that Emberson would become part of their top four defense corps. Head coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff realised quickly during preseason and in the early days of the regular season that Emberson may not be ready.
Through five games this season, he has no points and is a - 3. Oilers nation also mentioned the fact that the coaching staff reverts to original pairings which include Connor McDavid alongside Leon Draisaitl after losing two games in a row.
I do agree with their assessment that the coaching staff should take the early games of the season to figure out which players would work best with others and who will have chemistry and which lines will gel. The Oilers have gone through several changes including the additions of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Ardvidsson while losing Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway and Cody Ceci.
It remains to be seen on how Knoblauch and his staff will handle this slow start but it's safe to say they cannot sustain another slow start like last year as this is very tough on the top players and the rest of the team working twice as hard.
POLL | ||
Do you think Kris Knoblauch and his staff are panicking with Ty Emberson's benching? | ||
Yes | 23 | 54.8 % |
No | 19 | 45.2 % |
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