With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 25th.
Senators defenseman Cody Ceci is one of the more intriguing blueliners to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead. Although he’s technically not a true rental player in that he’s still under team control for one more season after this one, he’s at a salary level where it’s a toss-up as to whether or not he’ll be qualified this offseason. His play down the stretch might ultimately influence what happens so there will be a lot riding on these next couple of months.
Contract
Ceci is on a one-year, $4.3MM contract that was awarded in salary arbitration back in August. That amount will represent his qualifying offer this summer where he will once again be arbitration-eligible.
2018-19
With the departure of Erik Karlsson to San Jose, Ceci entered the season as Ottawa’s undisputed top blueliner on the right side. He did not fare well in that role last year when Karlsson was out and the results have been similar this season. His possession numbers aren’t particularly impressive and while he leads the team in blocks by a significant margin, it also means that teams are getting a lot of shot opportunities when he’s on the ice.
On the plus side, his offensive numbers have boosted a little bit this season. He already has reached his goal output from last season and he’s on pace for the second-highest point total of his career; he’s done so while often facing the top competition as well. It’s certainly fair to wonder if he’d fare better in a spot where he isn’t expected to shoulder as much of the load as he currently is.
Season Stats
48 GP, 5 goals, 10 assists, 15 points, -19 rating, 6 PIMS, 82 shots, 22:39 ATOI, 42.2 CF%
Potential Suitors
The fact that Ceci could stick around beyond this season makes him a different case than a lot of the players that are going to be dealt over the next three weeks. The fact he’s not a guaranteed rental opens up some opportunities for selling teams to consider giving him a try as well.
In the East, Tampa Bay’s depth on the right side is a little shaky and Ceci would represent an upgrade. They have enough salary cap space this season to take on his contract entirely but knowing what’s on the horizon this summer, they would likely have to non-tender him in the summer. New Jersey isn’t likely to be a true buyer at the deadline but it wouldn’t be shocking to see them inquire about Ceci as their back end has been shaky for a while now and they haven’t had much success when they’ve tried to address that issue in recent years.
Given Ottawa’s preference to deal players out of the conference wherever possible, it’s likely that they will try to move Ceci to the West if presented with similar offers. He’d represent an upgrade on Nashville’s third pairing but like Tampa Bay, they’d likely have to treat him as a rental player given how much they have tied up in their defense corps already. Minnesota has added some depth players in recent weeks but someone like Ceci would be a considerable improvement and could even slide onto their second pairing. He’d help Edmonton but matching money might be a challenge for the Oilers while it’s unlikely that Ottawa would want to take back contracts beyond this season.
Likelihood Of A Trade
A lot of this will depend on how Ottawa views Ceci moving forward. Do they look at the Jake Muzzin trade and hope that they can elicit a similar return? If so, the odds of a move will be low. However, if they’ve decided they’re not going to qualify him (or run the risk of a $5M+ contract in arbitration) and price him as more of a depth player, they should have several suitors for his services and be able to make a trade.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.