Stan Bowman has made his decision and one Oilers player is reportedly out

Ty Emberson could be the odd man out on the Edmonton Oilers blue line this summer.

A report circulating Sunday says the Oilers are closing in on a new deal with restricted free agent defenseman Spencer Stastney.

According to PuckPedia, the expected term is one year at $1,525,000 once it gets finalized.

That number matters. Emberson currently carries a cap hit of $1,300,000, and the math on Edmonton's blue line is getting tight.

Look at the depth chart already in place. Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard on one pair, Jake Walman and Connor Murphy on another, Ryan Shea and Shakir Mukhamadullin rounding out a third.

Add Stastney into that mix and it's suddenly nine defensemen with legitimate NHL resumes fighting for six or seven spots.

Emberson played 72 games this year, posting 12 points on 2 goals and 10 assists. Those are bottom-pairing numbers on a roster that doesn't have room for a bottom pairing that light.

Emberson's production dried up down the stretch

His last 10 games tell the real story. One point. That's it.

Over his last five, nothing. Zero points, zero momentum heading into an offseason where the Oilers are reshuffling the back end.

Stan Bowman has been the general manager in Edmonton since July 2024, and this looks like his blue line to remake. Adding a cheap, versatile RFA in Stastney while a veteran like Emberson sits on the bubble is not an accident.

The Oilers finished the season 41-30-11 with 93 points, good for second in their division. They won six of their final ten games and closed on a one-game win streak.

That kind of finish buys management room to make aggressive roster calls without much backlash from the fan base.

And here's the thing about crowded defense corps: somebody always gets squeezed, usually the guy making the fewest headlines.

Alec Regula and other depth pieces are reportedly also trying to lock down jobs for next season, which only tightens the numbers further.

None of this means Emberson gets moved tomorrow. But when a team stacks bodies at your position for cheaper money, the writing tends to be on the wall.