Who were the two NHL American defensemen traded this week?

It was an intriguing last few days in the National Hockey League. There were trades, a contract termination, and two restricted free agents signed. Many know about two players who were traded this week (defenseman Cody Ceci of Ottawa, Ontario and right winger Patrik Laine of Tampere, Finland), but you may not know about the other two–defensemen Jordan Harris of Haverhill, Massachusetts and Ty Emberson of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Jordan Harris

Harris was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday for Laine and a second round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. He has played the last three seasons in Montreal.

In 2023-24 Harris had three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 56 games. He was a -5 with 22 penalty minutes, 43 shots on goal, 86 blocked shots, 26 hits, 13 takeaways, and 22 giveaways.

In 131 games, Harris has eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points. He was a -5 with 56 penalty minutes, one power-play point, 122 shots on goal, 195 blocked shots, 89 hits, 34 takeaways and 59 giveaways.

Harris was drafted in the third round, 71st overall, by the Canadiens in the 2018 NHL Draft. He played three seasons with the Kimball Union Academy in the United States High School Prepatory system. After being drafted, Harris played two seasons at Northeastern University in the National Collegiate Athletics Association.

Ty Emberson

Emberson was traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday for Ceci and a third round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He was originally the Arizona Coyotes’s third round pick, 73rd overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft. Ironically, he was selected only two spots below Harris in the same draft. Emberson was later traded from the Coyotes to the New York Rangers for two draft picks and defenseman Patrik Nemeth of Stockholm, Sweden, and later claimed off waivers by the Sharks.

A former product of the University of Wisconsin, Emberson played 30 games for the Sharks this past season and had one goal and nine assists for 10 points. He was a -4 with six penalty minutes, 31 shots on goal, 46 blocked shots, 94 hits, seven takeaways, and eight giveaways.

Emberson’s goal and power play point came in Sharks wins. The goal came from Tomas Hertl of Praha, Czech Republic and Mike Hoffman of Kitchener, Ontario to open the scoring at 9:58 of the first period in a 4-3 Sharks upset win over the Vancouver Canucks on November 25, 2023. The power-play point (an assist) came in a 2-1 Sharks won over the Washington Capitals on November 27, 2023. Emberson helped set up Luke Kunin of Chesterfield, Missouri with the game-winning goal at 12:48 of the third period to break a 1-1 tie.