On Tuesday (May. 6), the Edmonton Oilers took the first game of their second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights with a comeback 4-2 victory, and are hoping to continue and make another deep run toward their first Stanley Cup since 1990. As they continue to push toward a championship, they have been without Mattias Ekholm, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury and hasn’t been seen in the playoffs yet. While he has been ruled out for the entirety of the second round, he may make his return if the Oilers win the series and make it to the Western Conference Final. If that happens, a solid defender might be the odd man out.
Ty Emberson, who was acquired by the Oilers before the 2024-25 campaign in exchange for Cody Ceci and a draft pick, has been playing well in a depth role and earned himself an extension. Despite his strong play throughout the regular season and into the postseason, he might end up being the odd man out if and when Ekholm returns in the later rounds, which speaks to how deep the Oilers are defensively.
In their first game against the Golden Knights, Emberson played well, but analytics claim he was at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Emberson has established himself as a solid depth defender in the NHL since being traded from the San Jose Sharks and has earned praise from fans for his solid defensive play. He makes small mistakes like every young defender does, but he has been good enough to help the Oilers win when he is in the lineup. Unfortunately, it’s tough to keep him in the lineup over any other defender, considering how strong John Klingberg, Brett Kulak, Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard, and Jake Walman have been.
That leaves Emberson on the outside if Ekholm returns. Oilers’ general manager Stan Bowman swinging at the 2025 Trade Deadline to bring in Walman helped bolster their blue line, as did the risky signing of Klingberg, which have both worked out in a big way. Nurse and Bouchard have elevated their games at both ends, and Kulak has continued to be solid in the defensive zone. One big indicator of Emberson’s status is his ice time, which was the lowest among the entire team in their first game against the Golden Knights. While they may have been sheltering him, head coach Kris Knoblauch has been using him less as the games go on.
Oilers’ Defensive Play Impressive Against Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have been praised for being an extremely deep team with both an incredible forward lineup and solid defenders. They were without Pavel Dorofeyev and Alex Pietrangelo to open up the series, but still kept up with the Oilers and created opportunities early in the game to put them on their heels, forcing them to play from behind. One of the more impressive things is how strong the Oilers looked defensively, limiting the Golden Knights to just 17 shots.
It’s fair to assume the Golden Knights should have some reinforcements back for the next game, including Pietrangelo, which should strengthen their defensive play and make them a bit more dangerous offensively. However, with how strong the Oilers have looked at both ends of the ice, it’s going to be tough for them to shut them down and get high-danger chances.
Either way, it seems like Emberson will be in and helping the team push on toward a Stanley Cup until Ekholm returns, if he does. The injury he’s dealing with hasn’t been revealed, but for him to be out this long and through the postseason, it has to be pretty serious. One positive is that if Ekholm returns, the Oilers have the option to run with 11 forwards and seven defenders at any point, should it be something they think could help them win.
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