San Jose Sharks acquire Cody Ceci and a 2025 3rd round pick from the Edmonton Oilers

Your San Jose Sharks have made headlines again as they have acquired a 2025 3rd-round pick and Cody Ceci from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ty Emberson. The defending Western Conference Finalists are trying to clear cap space to keep a couple of restricted free agents that were tendered offer sheets by the St Louis Blues, and new Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has to move quickly to get everything sorted ahead of the new season.

This is unbelievable asset management from Mike Grier, who has just managed to use a waiver claim to leverage a 3rd and a veteran NHL defenseman on a rather large contract out of Edmonton. While Emberson had an incredible first season in San Jose and looked like someone, the Sharks would have enjoyed keeping for the foreseeable future, turning him into another possible asset and a 3rd round. It's hard to complain about this.

Going into the new season, there's still a lot to work on, and the Sharks do not have lofty expectations. Still, in a deep rebuild, the Sharks are trying to accrue future assets to continue brightening tomorrow at the expense of today's pain. So, moving out a roster player like Emberson in a deal like this does make sense. The logjam on the blueline needed clearing up, and this sort of does that.

I say sort of because Cody Ceci is a defenseman coming back in this deal with a cap hit of $3.25 million this year; he's not exactly cheap. However, there is a world where he becomes a flippable asset at the deadline to a team that wants to bolster up for the upcoming postseason. Ceci was a big part of the Edmonton squad that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, and there is a chance a team may want his experience on the blueline heading into May.

As for Emberson, he was a fantastic Shark. He looked like he could be a great defenseman for someone in this league. But that was never going to be in San Jose. Too many kids coming through, like Mukhamadullin and Dickinson, meant someone had to go, and unfortunately, it was him. His punishment is playing with McDavid instead, so how bad is is?