The Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks have already crossed paths once on a blue-line swap, and that move still looks pretty cleanly in Edmonton’s favor two years later.
Exactly two years ago today, the Oilers sent Cody Ceci and a third-round pick to San Jose for Ty Emberson. It came less than two months after Edmonton fell in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, with the Oilers trying to reload for another push and the Sharks searching for veteran help during a rebuild. At the time, moving Ceci raised some eyebrows because of his fit with the team, but Edmonton wanted to get younger on the right side and saw that in Emberson.
Two seasons in, that bet has paid off.
Emberson has settled in as a steady piece on the Oilers’ back end. He’s not putting up eye-popping numbers, but he’s doing the kind of work contenders need from a third-pairing defender.
Across two seasons, he has 25 points. He blocked 106 shots last season and 97 in 2024-25, which ranked fourth on the Oilers.
He also finished fifth on the team in hits last season with 107.
He has held up in the postseason, too. In two playoff runs, he averaged two hits and one and a half blocks per game while logging about 10:30 a night.
The Oilers also like where this could still go. Emberson is young, he signed an extension with the team last spring, and if his steady play continues, another deal down the line wouldn’t be a surprise. He’s been moved around with different partners as Edmonton’s blue line has changed, and that has led to some rough patches, but the overall package remains encouraging.
For San Jose, Ceci brought exactly the kind of veteran presence the club wanted while rebuilding. He played 54 games for the Sharks in 2024-25, scoring four goals and 15 points.
He was a major part of their defence during his short stay, averaging nearly 22 minutes per game and blocking 100 shots. The giveaways were there, too, at almost one per game, but that comes with the territory when a defender is carrying heavy minutes for a struggling team.
The third-round pick in the deal became Teddy Mutryn, selected out of the USHL. He then played 2025-26 with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL and put up 68 points in 54 games.
This season, he’ll be at Boston College. At 19, he still has plenty of runway, and the early returns are strong.
Could this have been tighter if Ceci had stayed longer in San Jose? Sure.
But the trade to the Dallas Stars ended that quickly, and prospects always come with uncertainty anyway. Right now, though, the verdict is straightforward: the Oilers won this one.
Emberson has given them stability, reliability, and real value on a contender’s third pair.
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