Sharks Place Ty Emberson, Ryan Carpenter On IR
The Sharks have made a pair of roster moves ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Islanders, placing defenseman Ty Emberson and forward Ryan Carpenter on IR, as Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group relays. Emberson is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury after missing yesterday’s loss against the Rangers. Meanwhile, Carpenter logged nearly 16 minutes in that game and is now out with an undisclosed injury.
Emberson, 23, has been a pleasant surprise for the Sharks after they claimed him off waivers from the Rangers in September, quickly emerging as a potential replacement for the steeply declining Marc-Édouard Vlasic as a top-four shutdown specialist. A relatively unknown name with no NHL experience entering this season, Emberson has played 16 of San Jose’s 25 games, recently forcing his way up to the team’s top pairing alongside Mario Ferraro. Recording a goal and three assists while averaging 17:51 per game, Emberson has recorded a relatively strong -3 rating on a defensively porous Sharks team and a Corsi share of 46.7% at even strength, far better than the team’s 42.7% overall mark. His pairing with Ferraro has allowed 1.96 expected goals against per 60 minutes, the best of any qualified pairing on the Sharks, per MoneyPuck.
Even if only short-term, his absence cannot be afforded for a team with such a thin blue line. In Emberson’s absence, Kyle Burroughs is expected to play top-pairing duties against the Islanders tomorrow. He has just two assists in 24 games with a -12 rating, averaging nearly 19 minutes per game.
Carpenter has been similarly excellent on the defensive side of the puck this season but figures a bit easier to replace, given he’s seen more limited minutes. The 32-year-old veteran of nearly 350 NHL games has lined up primarily at center for the Sharks this year, recording five points in 18 games and a relatively spectacular Corsi share of 49.3% at even strength despite seeing a majority of defensive zone starts.
After Carpenter cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL San Jose before opening night rosters were due, the Sharks recalled him in late October. He sat as a healthy scratch for one contest but has made 18 straight appearances. Without him, the Sharks are down to 11 healthy forwards (including defenseman-turned-forward Jacob MacDonald), so expect a recall from the minors before tomorrow’s contest.
Emberson will be eligible to return on December 10 against the Golden Knights, while Carpenter will be eligible to return two days later against the Jets. Both will miss at least three games during their mandatory retroactive seven-day stint on IR.
Sharks Claim Ty Emberson Off Waivers From Rangers
There was one player claimed from Friday’s batch of waivers as Chris Johnston of TSN reports (Twitter link) that the Sharks have claimed blueliner Ty Emberson off waivers from the Rangers.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by Arizona back in 2018 (73rd overall) out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. He was the player who came to New York when they dealt two draft picks to the Coyotes to take on the remainder of Patrik Nemeth‘s contract (which has since been bought out). The change of scenery seemed to work quite well for Emberson as he went from 11 points in his final season with Tucson to 27 points last season with AHL Hartford although it didn’t land him an NHL look.
That helped secure Emberson a qualifying offer from the Rangers although he ultimately accepted less than that in exchange for a higher AHL pay. He’s on a one-year deal that pays $775K in the minors and $85K at the minor league level. He’ll be a restricted free agent once again next summer.
San Jose is an interesting landing spot for Emberson since they already have seven blueliners on one-way deals plus Jacob MacDonald who is on a two-way deal but played in 58 NHL games last season. However, the Sharks are a team that’s squarely in the middle of a rebuild so from that standpoint, it makes sense that they would want to take a look at a young right-shot defender.
Waivers: 9/29/23
As training camps and the preseason continues, teams continue to trim down their roster to get closer to the final group of players they’ll carry when the regular season gets underway next month. We’ll keep track of the names that hit the waiver wire here. Today’s list was provided by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).
Colorado Avalanche (per team Twitter)
D Keaton Middleton
F Spencer Smallman
New York Rangers
F Alex Belzile
F Anton Blidh
F Turner Elson
D Ty Emberson
D Connor Mackey
F Riley Nash
New Jersey Devils
St. Louis Blues
The Rangers have the players of some note on this list. Belzile held his own as a midseason recall with Montreal last season, notching six goals and eight assists in just 31 games. That allowed the 32-year-old to get a two-year commitment from New York this summer including a one-way salary in 2024-25. Nash didn’t see any NHL action last season but is no stranger to playing at the top level as a fourth-line center, suiting up 627 times over parts of 11 years. Blidh struggled in limited action with Colorado last season while Elson has just three NHL appearances thus far in his career.
Mackey could be a name to keep an eye on. The 27-year-old split last year between Calgary and Arizona, getting into a career-best 30 games. His performance there also earned him an opportunity to play at the Worlds for Team USA, his second appearance in that tournament over the last three years. This will be Emberson’s first time on waivers. The 23-year-old saw his production in the minors improve considerably last season, going from 11 points to 27 but he still sits fairly low on New York’s depth chart.
As for the other players on waivers today, Gaudette has 218 career NHL appearances under his belt and last season was the first time he didn’t see action at the top level in his six-year professional career. He was a productive scorer in the minors in 2022-23, notching 51 points between the affiliates of the Maple Leafs and Blues, who acquired him at the trade deadline. Wotherspoon last played in the NHL back in 2016-17 with Calgary while Middleton has three NHL games under his belt back in the 2020-21 campaign. Smallman, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any NHL action over his seven professional campaigns and is coming off a career-best 13 goals with AHL Colorado last season.
These players will be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Saturday.
New York Rangers Sign Ty Emberson
The New York Rangers have negotiated a new contract for one of their more underrated defensive prospects, signing Ty Emberson to a one-year contract extension for 2023-24. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 23-year-old Emberson had a breakout development season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, his first season there after the Rangers acquired him last summer from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for them taking the final two seasons of defenseman Patrik Nemeth‘s contract, which Arizona bought out last month. He posted career-highs across the board, tallying seven goals and 27 points in 69 games, and was also named the best defensive defenseman in the AHL’s Eastern Conference.
He earned those honors by playing consistent top-four minutes for Hartford all season long and finishing second on the team with a +17 rating. Arizona had selected the 6-foot-1 right-shot defender with the 73rd overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
The Wisconsin-born Emberson likely isn’t a candidate to make the Rangers out of camp yet, and might actually slip down the depth chart in Hartford after the Rangers signed Connor Mackey and Mac Hollowell to bolster their AHL depth. That being said, he doesn’t get discussed as much as he should when talking about Rangers prospects, and he’ll look to keep up the strong two-way play in the face of increased internal competition next season.
Emberson will be a restricted free agent again next summer.