There’s no more important battle at Edmonton Oilers training camp than earning the spot next to Darnell Nurse on the second pair of the blue line. Ty Emberson is the early leader but has some complications to work around.

The Oilers traded for Emberson in August, sending Nurse's former linemate Cody Ceci to San Jose. Emberson talked about the opportunity to take on a top-four role that is in front of him all of a sudden after relocating from California to Canada.

Darnell Nurse was skating with a new defense partner at the first on-ice training camp session for the Edmonton Oilers.

When asked at the opening of camp on Thursday how serious his injuries were from last season and the playoffs, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse refused to get into details with the media.