2020-21 Season In Review: Cody Ceci

Vitals

Player: Cody Ceci

Born: December 21, 1993 (27 years old)

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 210 lbs.

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario

Draft: 1st Round, 2012 (15th overall) by the Ottawa Senators

2020-21 Statistics: 4 goals, 13 assists in 53 games played

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent after signing 1-year, $1.25M contract with the Penguins last season

Playoffs

Like most players on the Penguins roster, Ceci’s postseason was nothing to write home about, simply because of how short-lived it was. Ceci registered two assists in the Penguins six-game series loss to the Islanders.

Monthly Splits

via Yahoo!

Story of the Season

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

Data via Natural Stat Trick

Corsi For: 48.31%

Goals For: 59.42%

xGF: 48.67%

Scoring Chance: 48.34%

High Danger Scoring Chance: 48.48%

5v5 on-ice shooting%: 10.49%

On-ice save%: 93.29%

Charts n’at

Cody Ceci picked up a reputation due to his poor play and being put in a bad position early in his career in Ottawa.

As we mentioned before the season began, Ceci was pretty decent in Toronto and a candidate to surprise in Pittsburgh.

And he did that with a surprisingly solid year for the Pens.

Ceci was never expected to provide much offense, as he does have a reputation of being a “stay-home” defender. It was his second season in a row as a solid contributor on defense, while seeing a slight boost on the offensive side of the puck.

This is actually malpractice from 2016-18 with the deep water that Ottawa threw Ceci in and allowed him to sink as a first pair defender.

He’s not at that level, but still played more TOI than perhaps expected at the beginning of the season for Toronto and Pittsburgh.

Ceci and Mike Matheson found a chemistry that worked well this year. Matheson will be around in Pittsburgh for a while, so it will be interesting to see if the Penguins try and bring Ceci back to stay with him as a playing partner.

The Penguins were a better team when it came to scoring goals for and preventing goals against with Ceci on the ice, compared to when he wasn’t on the ice. What a world!

Highlights

Prior to his time in Pittsburgh, Cody Ceci was all over highlight reels as a defenseman making “the big mistake.”

He did a good job of avoiding the big mistake in Pittsburgh, avoiding being on the losing end of the highlight reels more often than not.

However, he endeared himself to Penguins fans early on back in February,

Bottom line

Ceci was one of the Penguins more consistent players this past season. When it first was announced that he was signing with the Penguins, the initial thought was ‘oh no.’

Now, he may have priced himself out of staying in Pittsburgh and ‘oh no’ could be the thought. How the tables have turned.

Ideal 2021-22

For the Penguins side of things — if Ceci wants to stay in Pittsburgh and doesn’t want a major pay raise, perhaps he can be back in the black and gold and have a similar type season. That’s all the Penguins need.

For Ceci’s side, an ideal year for him might look like a longer-term contract worth more money, if a team puts that kind of offer out there for him.

You’ve seen the data— now it’s time to share your thoughts!