Edmonton Oilers player review and 2021-22 preview: Cody Ceci

Oh, Cody Ceci.

He was drafted in the first round of the 2015 draft by the Ottawa Senators, the team with whom he would break into the league and where he would spend his first six seasons.

And in Ottawa, Ceci was, well, somewhat of a laughing stock around the league. Little fault of his own, however, as Ceci was a second pairing defenceman being asked to be a first pairing defenceman taking tough matchups.

In the last two years, he took lesser roles with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins and had some good successes. This last year spent with the Pens saw him play in 53 games scoring four goals and 17 points.

At even-strength, Ceci contributed offence at a six percent rate below league average and defence at a one percent rate below league average, according to hockeyviz.com.

At 5×5 with him on the ice, the Penguins controlled 48.31 percent of the shot attempts, 59.42 percent of the goals and 48.67 percent of the expected goals while posting an inflated 103.8 PDO. Ceci’s most common defensive partner was Mike Matheson, and his most common forward linemate was Zach Aston-Reese and with them, Ceci was a strong driver of play.

Inked this offseason to a four-year, $3.25-million AAV deal, Ceci will be asked to play a tough role this year facing some hard matchups with Duncan Keith likely to be his defensive partner. What will happen? Who knows. But I’m not one to hold my breath for these two to have a great season.

In the best-case scenario, Ceci continues his trend of growing as second pairing defenceman who plays a strong defence first game. He’ll come into Edmonton looking to fill some of what the Oilers will lose with Adam Larrson heading to Seattle, and we’ll see what he’s able to do soon enough.