Preview/Lines #75: Emberson Returns to San Jose, Thrun Back, Georgiev Injured

Back in August, the San Jose Sharks traded away Ty Emberson in exchange for Cody Ceci and a 2025 third round draft pick.

“It’s always a shock when you get traded. But it’s exciting when a team trades for you. You’re excited for when a team wants you,” Emberson said.

Now with the Edmonton Oilers, Emberson is just two games away from his 100th in the NHL.

“They say something about as a young defenseman, it takes a couple 100 games to find yourself,” Emberson said. “I think I’m still doing that but trying to prove myself every night.”

As he continues to develop in the league, he has some specific focuses.

“Little things of slowing down my game. Sometimes I’m too fast out there, not in the sense that I’m Connor McDavid or anything,” Emberson joked. “Just get ahead of myself and look to try to do too much, but maybe just simplify my game and simplify my puck touches.”

Emberson has settled in as a fairly regular bottom-pairing defenseman for the Stanley Cup contenders, averaging 14:51 a night with a steady dose of penalty-killing responsibilities.

“For a rookie season last year…I think he had a pretty remarkable year. Our scouts, our analytics team, we were impressed with what he did last year,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I’ve been familiar with him for a while now, because I coached him in the American Hockey League. What I see from him right now is very similar to the player that I saw in the American, just a tremendous skater. Checks really well. It’s not an offensive defenseman, but a defenseman that’s efficient moving the puck.”

Emberson also reflected on his time with the San Jose Sharks.

Last year saw Emberson playing in a pairing with Mario Ferraro and averaging nearly four minutes more on ice per game.

“Sometimes, the best way to learn stuff is just to get tossed into the fire, to get tossed into the deep end,” Emberson said. “Sometimes, it’s actually easier to be more in the game when you play more minutes, versus having a shift here, shift there. Last year was really good for me.”

He struggled with frustrating injuries at times, but still managed his first 30 games in the NHL, obviously impressing the Oilers.

Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said he’s seen improvement in the 24-year-old: “He’s come a long way. Another young defenseman that’s continued to have his ups and downs, but I know he’s well-liked there. Having a solid season.”

Interestingly, Emberson denied the report that he had reached out to fellow former San Jose Sharks blueliner Kyle Burroughs, formerly of the Vancouver Canucks, about moving to a Canadian team. But that report actually spurred the two to talk.

“He reached out to me after that happened and was just like ‘Hey, didn’t actually say that,’ but it was then we started talking about – it’s an adjustment, different market from San Jose to Edmonton, but it’s been good,” Emberson said. “They really care about their hockey up there, so it’s awesome to see.”

San Jose Sharks (20-44-10)

Georgi Romanov will start.

Alexander Georgiev has a day-to-day upper-body injury, so Gabriel Carriere was recalled to back up.

Warsofsky doesn’t believe that Georgiev’s injury is long-term, and Georgiev did come out after morning skate in full gear, so that’s a good sign.

Henry Thrun will return tonight, in place of Shakir Mukhamadullin. Warsofsky had no update on Mukhamadullin.

Projected lines:

Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Graf
Grundstrom-Dellandrea-Lund
Gregor-Ostapchuk-Goodrow

Ferraro-Liljegren
Carlsson-Thompson
Vlasic-Thrun

Romanov

Jan Rutta also participated in morning skate, a good sign that he can return before the end of the season.

Edmonton Oilers (43-26-5)

EDM lines & pairings – Wednesday’s practice:

Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Hyman – RNH – Kapanen
Skinner – Janmark – Brown
Jones – Henrique – Perry
(Kane – McDavid – Frederic)

Walman – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson

Pickard
Rodrigue#Oilers

— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) April 2, 2025

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on ESPN+. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.