Cody Ceci has found a home for the 2020-21 season. The 26-year-old is coming off his worst offensive season with a subpar defence on top of it but he has a chance to correct things. The deal is for one season at a cap hit of $1.25 million. The Pittsburgh Penguins hope he has more to show as he now enters his third team in as many years.
Cody Ceci signs a 1 year, $1.25 million deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Good fit for both and opportunity for Ceci to reset like others are doing on short term deals.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 17, 2020
Cody Ceci Signs
Ceci was simply not good in 2019-20 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored a career-low one goal and eight points in 56 games. That is fewer points than his rookie season when he scored three goals and nine points in 49 games. He scored at a rate about half of his career mark; Ceci posted .14 points per game this season but he’s scored roughly .25 points per game in his seven seasons. Some of that is bad luck, though. His shooting percentage also dropped in half. He would have had around three goals had he been closer to his career success rate of 4.2 percent. That is still bad but not career-worst bad.
It wasn’t all bad for Ceci. His possession numbers rebounded from two consecutive seasons with a Corsi For below 45 percent. A mark of 49.6 percent was his best mark since Ceci was a rookie with the Ottawa Senators. That is something his new team will want to see continue but they also have to consider that he is just not a good offensive defender overall. He has a negative Corsi For Relative for his career so his presence on the ice is a significant drain on the offence. Ceci should be limited to a bottom-pairing role and the penalty-killing unit.
What This Means for the Future
Ceci needs to be better 2020-21. His offence cratered and while the defence wasn’t always bad, it is far from acceptable for a player who just made $4.5 million. The good thing is that expectations are low. He should only have room to improve moving forward with a new team around him.
Main Photo:
