Today we look at the youngest defenseman on the roster, just finishing his second year as a pro, Cody Ceci
PRE-SEASON EXPECTATION
After a pretty solid indoctrniation into the NHL in his rookie season, the young defenseman was expected to continue to improve on all facets of his game, most likely as a member of the top two pairings for the Senators.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Ceci was a mainstay in a lineup that saw a lot of juggling around him. He missed just one game as a healthy scratch, finishing with one fewer game played than Erik Karlsson. His time on ice per game was up by 2 minutes to just under nineteen and a half per game.
Ceci was relied on more as a penalty killer with the absence of Marc Methot for the first half of the season, while actually seeing his power play time decrease due to the fact that Karlsson played such a large percentage of time with the man advantage.
In his first full season in the NHL Ceci obviously set career highs in goals, assists and points. This came as the trickle-down effect of Methot's injury and an abundance of defensemen created a revolving door on his left side, with Jared Cowen and then Patrick Wiercioch spending a majority of even strength time with him on the second pairing.
THE HARD STATS
THE FANCY STATS
As you can see, Ceci isn't out of place among the top young defensemen in the division, but there is certainly room for improvement.
THE "KEY" STATS
Ceci led all Ottawa blueliners with 113 blocked shots.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
Ceci has answered the call quicker than many expected, including the fact that he is a regular penalty killer, something else that would not have been expected if you had seen him play junior.
He is a good puck mover and carrier, and if he was a left-handed shot he could see more power play time but looked uncomfortable on the left side when given the opportunity to play with Karlsson.
With a year left on his entry level deal Ceci will continue to improve at a steady rate and will become not just a guy who is a 2nd pair blueliner by default, but a legitimate one as he gets closer to his prime. That could be his ceiling on the right side as there is a guy named Karlsson ahead of him on the depth chart.
GRADE: Ceci seems low maintenance and looks to learn by example and learn from his mistakes. Although he will never be a physical force, he is already better all-around than I though he would ever be. There is still room for improvement offensively. B .
Up next is a very interesting report card, and one that will surely cause a lot of discusion regardless of what the grade ends up being.
If you missed them, check out prior Report Cards: