Sharks sign Ty Emberson to one-year, $950,000 contract

The San Jose Sharks announced Thursday they signed defenseman Ty Emberson to a one-year, $950,000 contract.

The 24-year-old made his NHL debut last season, playing 30 games with the Sharks and scoring one goal and nine assists for 10 points and recording 46 blocked shots and 94 hits while averaging 18:33 of ice time.

“Ty is a solid stay-at-home defenseman who uses his body to be hard on pucks and out-work opponents in his own zone,” Sharks’ Generalk Manager Mike Grier said in a press release. “He is effective in penalty kill situations and is disciplined in his on-ice play.”

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report it Thursday morning.

It was a difficult rookie campaign for Emberson, who was claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers weeks before the start of the 2023-24 campaign. He missed 12 games in December with a lower-body injury, was placed on Injured Reserve in January with an upper-body injury, missed another two weeks with another upper-body injury in early February before eventually being shelved for the rest of the season with another lower-body injury.

Emberson, a native of Eau Claire, Wis., spent the previous two seasons and change in the AHL, playing for the Tucson Roadrunners and Hartford Wolf Pack. In 2023, he scored seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 69 games with the Wolf Pack.

Before turning professional, Emberson spent three seasons playing college hockey with the Wisconsin Badgers. He scored nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points and 69 penalty penalty minutes in 101 career games.

Taken in the third round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-2 defender spent two seasons in the U.S. National Team Development Program, and was a member of both the Under-17 and Under-18 national teams.

While with the U-18 team, he scored four goals and 23 assists for 27 points and 46 penalty minutes in 61 games.