The Penguins have added some defensive depth to the right side of their back end as they announced the signing of Cody Ceci to a one-year contract. The deal is worth $1.25MM, a significant drop from the $4.5MM he made last season. GM Jim Rutherford released the following statement about his new acquisition:
Cody is a two-way defenseman who plays with size and a speed game that fits our system well. He brings both regular season and playoff experience, and can be utilized on the penalty kill.
The 26-year-old was able to hit the open market a year earlier than most as he has seven NHL seasons under his belt. He spent last season with Toronto after they acquired him from Ottawa last summer and his role decreased as a result as he averaged 20:32 per night, his lowest ATOI in four years. With the Maple Leafs also having more offensively-gifted options in front of him, he wasn’t put in many offensive situations either and as a result, Ceci managed just a goal and seven assists in 56 regular season games.
While he is known for some untimely defensive lapses, Ceci should be able to provide some more minutes than the Penguins have typically received from their third pairing as Kris Letang and John Marino are ahead of him on the depth chart. At first glance, he could be lining up alongside fellow newcomer Mike Matheson who was recently acquired from Florida. Jack Johnson (buyout) and Justin Schultz (free agency) have both moved on from last year.
Ceci was ranked 30th on our Top 50 UFA list and while his first trip in unrestricted free agency didn’t yield the type of contract he was certainly looking for, a good season with Pittsburgh could help restore some value before hitting the open market next offseason still as one of the youngest blueliners available. Meanwhile, the Penguins have a little over $1.3MM in cap space remaining per CapFriendly with a full roster. That doesn’t leave much more room for offseason additions but if they carry that much into next year, they should have a decent cushion built up closer to the trade deadline.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the contract.
There it is
I love this move. I never mentioned Ceci because I didn’t think we’d be able to afford him.
A perfect fit to pair with Matheson.
Dumoulin – Letang
Pettsersson – Marino
Matheson – Ceci
Great balance between left and right shot, offense and defense on each pair.
Sure, but if Matheson doesn’t get/take enough offensive chances, that contract starts to look ugly, quick.
You will come to learn the Pens can’t afford to play him in critical situations, as in with a lead of three or fewer goals and two or fewer periods left to play. Or tie games, or elimination games, or other must win games. Aside from that, he’s solid depth and a valuable addition to any bench.
Good luck to actually wanting ceci. Odog said it best that the biggest problem with ceci is there isn’t a single aspect of the game that he excels at
Jeff O’niel is a waste of skin. How tsn hasn’t shitcanned his ass amazes me.
How dare you sir
He’s a 3rd pair defenseman not Jesus
Matheson will be with the pens until Geno and Sid retire, no one will take his contract. Unless he has a bad year and JR gets Seattle to take him for compensation
Surprised he was still able to get an NHL deal after these last few seasons. He’s one of the worst players I’ve ever seen that finds away to fail upwards.
Last I saw Ceci, he was playing top four for the Sens team that Kunitz beat in the ECF.
Is it your contention that his game has degraded (if so, how?) or that he was never good?
After watching him with the Leafs last year I’m surprised he’s still in the NHL.
I have to look at my d-lines on my NHL 21 Red Wings franchise, and see if this could be an upgrade.
Man! We just got rid of JJ! Now we sign CC (aka JJ Jr)?!?! Oi vay!!!
Just awful they rid themselves of jj only to bring on the second worst dman in the league! Yikes
I’m not really interested in what Ceci did last year with a defensive dumpster fire like the Leafs or the year before with the worst team in the NHL.
I remember Ceci being good enough to play top four on a team that was a goal away from the Final and earning a $4.5 M AAV. Plus, he was still in the lineup.
When we got Daley, Cole, Schultz, Oleksiak, etc., they were all healthy scratches, so…Ceci is ahead of the game.
I hear Pens fans already bashing Matheson and Ceci before they’ve played a shift. I guess Jimmy should have gotten Hedman and Pietrangelo instead.
Will try to remember your hot take a week or 2 into the season
I suspect it will sound something like “remember when you said Ceci was better than Pietrangelo”?
He’s a third pair D man who is better than Ruhwedel, who still has real upside with the proper coaching and costs almost nothing.
The Pens only path to winning another Cup is to roll the dice on high upside players who cost little (either in terms of salary or acquisition cost) because they struggled elsewhere filling complimentary roles…Matheson, Ceci, Jankowski, etc.
It moves their odds of winning from 1.5% to 2%.
Given that, Rutherford has done a good job of finding said players who, if they pan out, would fill the roles we need. That doesn’t mean the roll of the dice works. It means it was a reasonable attempt at slightly increasing long odds given limited resources.
Ceci signed for $1.2 million for one year. He’s a third pairing defenseman. Someone has to play that role. Don’t overthink it.