Penguins A to Z: Cody Ceci found some much-needed consistency

With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 49 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Cody Ceci

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 27

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 210 pounds

2020-21 NHL statistics: 53 games, 17 points (four goals, 13 assists)

Contract: One-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.25 million. Pending unrestricted free agent this offseason

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, Oct. 17, 2020

2020-21 season: It’s a pretty familiar story.

A defenseman with a high pedigree fails to live up to expectations and falls on hard times.

He finds sanctuary in the safe harbor of Pittsburgh and seeks a course correction for his career.

The Penguins have had considerable successes with this approach in the likes of Justin Schultz, Ian Cole and Trevor Daley.

On the other end of that spectrum are failures such as Matt Hunwick and Jack Johnson.

It’s safe to say Cody Ceci fits in the first column.

A first-round pick (No. 15 overall) of the Ottawa Senators in 2012, Ceci washed out in Canada’s capital then dealt with additional struggles in the so-called capital of the hockey universe as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20.

Eight days after the NHL’s free agency period opened in October of 2020, the Penguins sunk much of the remaining salary cap space they had into Ceci. At the time, the transaction was ridiculed by plenty of amateur general managers on social media.

And by the time Ceci actually suited up for the Penguins, there was little to suggest it was a prudent signing.

But with due time, Ceci established himself as one of the Penguins’ most consistent and cost-effective entities on the blue line.

After struggling with defensive partner Mike Matheson — also a newcomer who didn’t enjoy the benefit of a true training camp — in the season opener Jan. 13, Ceci was a healthy scratch for three consecutive games. But once injuries began to take their toll on the other defensemen, Ceci was back in the lineup by Jan. 22 and never left.

As they got more and more acclimated to the Penguins’ way of doing things, Ceci and Matheson supplanted youngsters John Marino and Marcus Pettersson as the second defensive pairing. With that, Ceci went from being a target of public scorn to a trustworthy defensive entity who was also a rare source of physical play in a lineup that offered relatively little of it.

Not coincidentally, Ceci’s popularity surged when he planted Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, a long-time nemesis of the Penguins, into the ice during a 5-2 road loss on Feb. 25.

While Ceci will never be confused with Paul Coffey, he did finish second in scoring among the Penguins’ defensemen despite only seeing an average of four seconds of power-play ice time per game.

Ceci, who displayed a knack for finding shooting lanes from the point through traffic, enjoyed his best stretch of the season between March 27 and April 24 when he collected 11 points (two goals, nine assists) over 14 games.

Defensively, he really made his mark on the penalty kill as he led the Penguins with an average of 2:35 of short-handed ice time per contest.

During the playoffs, Ceci recorded two assists in six games. Along with Matheson, Ceci primarily drew assignments against the New York Islanders’ potent second line of Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier that combined for eight even-strength goals during the first round.

The future: Ceci is an unrestricted free agent and as a right-handed defenseman who had a strong, steady season, he’ll have no shortage of suitors, even if the NHL’s salary cap will remain flat at $81.5 million.

It remains to be seen if the Penguins will be one of those suitors, at least in a serious sense. Obviously, they were more than satisfied with what Ceci offered them as a reclamation project. But given their limited cap space as well as other pressing needs, most notably in net, they simply might be content to let him walk and sign a lucrative deal elsewhere, especially with right-handed defensemen Mark Friedman and Chad Ruhwedel still under contract.

Regardless, Cody Ceci found some desperately needed consistency as a member of the Penguins. That success could find him wearing a different jersey this fall.

Follow the Penguins all season long.