On the evening of Aug. 18, the San Jose Sharks made a surprising move on their blue line, sending Ty Emberson to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Cody Ceci and a 2025 third-round pick. While not a massive trade, the deal is eye-catching because Emberson was a breakout candidate for the Sharks, and there was speculation that the Oilers would have to give up more than they ultimately did to get a team to take on Ceci’s contract. This trade says a lot about how San Jose sees their defense.
Emberson and Ceci in Very Different Career Stages
At 24 years old, Emberson has played just 30 NHL games, all with the Sharks. He gradually adjusted to the pro game, and the Sharks rewarded the restricted free agent with a one-year contract this offseason. The signing suggested — at least at the time — that he could be a valued defenseman in San Jose this season.
Of course, that has changed with the acquisition of the 30-year-old Ceci, who has appeared in 786 NHL regular-season games and 88 playoff games and is now on his fifth team. He is a durable, defensive defenseman, and his veteran presence should be helpful to a young Sharks roster.
San Jose’s decision to bring in a veteran blueliner makes a lot of sense. But giving up a young defenseman to do it is strange. Ceci’s name is already being discussed in trade rumors, and with the one year remaining on his contract, he might not be a part of the Sharks’ long-term plans.
Still, the fact that management was willing to move Emberson to get Ceci shows that Emberson probably didn’t fall into that category either. It’s particularly confusing since Emberson was one of the young defensemen mentioned when general manager Mike Grier explained his decision to go with in-house hire Ryan Warsofsky as the team’s new head coach.
As the Sharks rebuild, their blue line remains one of their major question marks. This trade seems a bit like they are kicking the can down the road instead of trying to answer those questions.
Sharks Have Many Decisions to Make About Their Defense
Even without Emberson, the Sharks have a handful of promising young defensemen in their system, such as Henry Thrun, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Luca Cagnoni, and Sam Dickinson. But this trade doesn’t seem to help them much. It moved out an up-and-coming blueliner without opening up a roster spot for another one.
The third-round pick could theoretically be used to draft Emberson’s replacement, but the Sharks could have snagged a 2026 pick in the first or second round, considering that the Oilers approached this trade as a cap dump. Given their rebuilding status, they certainly could have waited one more season for the pick to take effect.
Related: Sharks Could Regret Giving Up on Emberson
Essentially, the Sharks don’t have a lot of sure things on defense right now. The only established defenseman on the roster, who should be a major part of the team’s future, is Mario Ferraro. The front office is making a lot of bets on the direction of the blue line. They’re betting that all or most of the aforementioned four young defensemen will turn into legitimate NHL players and that whoever they draft with that third-round pick will do the same.
They’re also betting that Ceci will be around for more than just this season or that whatever they get for him in a trade will do that instead. Perhaps most boldly, they’re betting that Emberson won’t turn into a player who could have helped San Jose in an area of need.
The Sharks are in the middle of reconstructing a defense, seemingly from scratch, that has been arguably the worst in the NHL over the last few seasons. For their plan to succeed, most of the above predictions, if not all of them, need to come true. The trade will be a good one if those results manifest themselves, but for now, the Sharks just added several steps to an already difficult and lengthy task.
