The numbers tell an entirely different story. Ceci's offense is on a whole other level than Jaros. It is so far apart I am not sure how people can even think otherwise.
Ceci in the AHL at 20 absolutely blew away what Jaros did in the AHL at 22.
In the NHL at 22 Ceci managed a 26 point season. Jaros at 23 managed a 10 point season.
Ceci finished 32nd in RHD scoring this year, thats border line #1 pairing production. With no PP time. He finished 16th in even strength points. He was actually well ahead of Doughty in even strength points. There was ten teams he would have been the top scoring right handed D on. He entirely outscored all the RHD on 4 teams in the league on his own.
Nothing against Jaros, but there has never been any indication that he is even close to Ceci offensively.
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That's some impressive numbers. It's surprising that he can really fail the eye test most nights but still put up good point production.
I agree he fails the eye test continually, but what escapes most people is that it is harder to play against the Kucherovs and McDavids of the league as opposed to the Sikuras and the Bluegers, especially when you do 2/3rds of your starts in the defensive zone. You have far less time to make those decisions. Look what happened when Claesson and Wideman were moved out of sheltered roles. Even Harper fits that description. It is a huge jump from a sheltered role to a mid role, much less what Ottawa throws Ceci in night in and out.
The truth is I am not entirely sure what Ceci is at this point. Put into a spot like Karlsson was here, he could easily be a 40+ point D man, the data points to it being possible, perhaps even likely. But we just do not know. And defensively he is not an elite shutdown D, but he has shown enough savvy against the elite offensive players, that its likely he can play against 2nd/3rd line and be a very solid option against them. And the worst thing is that while being miscast here, he would likely be miscast on half the teams in the league, RHD is a position of such weakness for so many teams.[/QUOTE]
Two excellent posts. People don't realize how much more difficult it is to play against the other team's best players night after night. Ceci has been miscast here because there was no one else who could play that role better on this team & eat up the minutes he can. He's the best example as to why the Sens need a couple of shutdown D because the defence they have are going to be dominated in the defensive zone.
The Sens new young defencemen may be faster & more skilled but they are not stronger & are not going to win as many board battles & IMO will cough up the puck more. If they can acquire some shutdown D help they could move Ceci into a proper role & he could be more productive at both ends of the ice. He has a lot of tools, but I do agree that his decision making requires more time than he has playing against the other team's best players. Playing against other team's lesser players would certainly help him be a better player but then again he would also have to command less money. I think if Ceci doesn't take the contract he is being offered here, that he could be moved before the season starts.
