Four times in franchise history the Edmonton Oilers have found unwanted d-men on the NHL scrap heap and turned them into gold, into effective and productive d-men playing a Top 4 role on the team.
Will Ty Emberson make it five times lucky? It’s far too early to say but I’ve got a good first impression of the player Emberson had a few outstanding moments in Edmonton’s 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
The four times the Oilers have previously struck gold? They’ve done it with the same kind of d-man, one who never really took off with his first team or teams, dropped in value, but figured it out once he got to the Oilers. Each of the four made up for a lack of speed with toughness, fortitude and positional excellence in the d-zone. Each of the four became a shut-down d-man who could hold his own against top opposing attackers.
Lee Fogolin. Fogolin made the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres as a 19-year-old after being taken 11th overall in the 1974 draft but his stock had fallen so much in five seasons with the Sabres they didn’t include him on their 15-player protected list for the 1979 expansion draft for the four incoming World Hockey Association teams. Edmonton took the 24-year-old Fogolin with their second pick in that draft, after nabbing Cam Connor from Montreal. A slow-moving but rock solid and positionally-sound player, Fogolin went on to team up on the second pairing with Kevin Lowe on two Stanley Cup-winning Oilers teams, including the 1985 team voted the best team in NHL history. Fogolin ranks fourth all time in games played for Oilers d-men.
Craig Muni. A second round pick of the Maple Leafs, Muni spent four years in the minors but failed to crack a mediocre Toronto defence. At age 24 he was a free agent and signed with the Oilers, where he quickly established himself as a bruising hitter and fierce defender, pairing up for years with Kevin Lowe on three Cup-winning teams.
Jason Smith. Like Fogolin, Smith had been a first round pick, taken by New Jersey 18th overall in the 1992 draft. Like Fogolin, Smith was a fierce positional defender, but not much of a skater or puck mover. And like Fogolin, his career got off to an iffy start. He was first traded away from the Devils to the Leafs, then sent to the Oilers in 1998 for a late second and a fourth round pick. But in Edmonton he flourished, becoming a key player in Edmonton’s 2006 Cup run, which fell one game short of ultimate victory.
Steve Staios. Staios was on his third NHL organization when the Oilers picked him up at age 28 on a bargain contract, but he played his way onto the team’s second pairing and like Smith was a key member of the 2006 team. In the end he played 1001 NHL games, 573 of them with the Oilers, the fifth most for any d-man in team history. A smart, sound defender who gave his all and kept things safe.
Can Emberson follow in this tradition? He’s 24 now and on his third NHL organization, having been Arizona and New York Rangers property before he got claimed on waivers and played in San Jose last year.
Of course, all kinds of NHL castaways arrive in Edmonton at the age of 24 or 25 and fail to make it. I’ve focused on the four d-men who defied the odds and saw their games pick up in Edmonton.
Emberson would also be defying the odds if he were to grab a second-pairing job and build a long and successful career in Edmonton. It’s a long shot to happen but based on first impressions he’s got a shot.
He certainly looked good in moments against Winnipeg. For example, he got caught up ice, leading to a 2-on-1 against, but instead of making a desperate b-line for the puck carrier, Emberson played it smart.
When his partner Brett Kulak got beat wide, Emberson did the savvy thing as he rushed back into the play. He left the puck carrier, Gabe Vilardi, now in tight on Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, for Skinner to solve. Instead, Emberson did what so many Oilers defenders fail to do — he stuck tight to the player charging into the slot, young Brad Lambert, the danger man. Vilardi was in too tight to beat Skinner so he tried to get the puck over to Lambert, but Emberson was there, blanketing Lambert, not letting him touch the puck. It was cool, calm and and collected old man defence, the kind that Fogolin, Smith, Muni and Staios consistently played when they were successful in Edmonton. It announced Emberson as a real candidate for a big job on the Oilers.
Later he played the angles perfectly and snuffed out another 2-on-1 rush by himself, blocking the cross-seam pass.
He also showed some finesse with the puck, making good on most of his possessions, though he did fumble one neutral zone pass, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on one of Winnipeg’s six goals against.
But, overall, he impressed.
Again, it’s too early to say that Emberson is the answer to partner with Darnell Nurse on the second-pairing. Perhaps his game will fall apart as the competition picks up. Perhaps he’ll stumble as Nurse’s partner, just as so many other Oilers d-men did last year.
But I’ll suggest it’s a coin flip now that Emberson sticks with Nurse and does well in the role. He’s got one advantage in that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch knows well his game, having coached Emberson in Hartford in 2022-23. He’s got a second advantage in that after Evan Bouchard the right side of the Oil’s defence is wide open. An NHL job — and a good one — is there to seize.
P.S. Twenty minutes of hockey talk you won’t want to miss. Staples with Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now.
At the Cult of Hockey
McCURDY: The axe falls on a dozen as Oil make first round of cuts
McCURDY: Review of the dreaded “Winnipeg game”
STAPLES: Oilers defence is both terrific and terrible
McCURDY: No surprises as 4 youngsters cut and returned to OHL
STAPLES: Review of Oilers-Flames split-squad game at Edmonton
LEAVINS: Review of Oilers-Flames split-squad game at Calgary
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