Overpaid by half a mill
Going to be a really rough season.
It's hard to rag too hard on the guy when we had the goaltending we did last year and he played a lot of the year with that pylon Phaneuf - a guy it should be reminded who was a cap dump last year.
I'd love to see Ceci play with a mobile, veteran defenseman for one year just to see how he actually plays in a better situation.
He looked much better paired with Chabot and if I am not mistaken, his advanced stats were also much better. That being said, he should be your #4 in TOI and not the 12th D-man with the most EV TOI in the whole league (can't people see that this is THE problem with Ceci? He is being asked to play as a top D-man in the league when he should be in the middle of the pack...)
On one side he makes/will make more money than he should because of it, but on the other side he gets crapped on a lot.
After Phaneuf was traded (last 28 games), Ceci had a 47.01 SAT%. Before the trade, he had a 42.99 SAT%
Unfortunately, he didn't play all the games with Chabot after Phaneuf was traded (Boucher and his decisions), but admittedly, who was going to play with Karlsson? Ceci played a lot with Wolanin, Harpur, Borowiecki and even Claesson too.
Micklebot, do you know how to find advanced stats with each player? I'd like to see that. I'm expecting Ceci to have much better advanced stats with Chabot and even Wolanin. Would like to see if the Zone Starts % changed too.
It's hard to rag too hard on the guy when we had the goaltending we did last year and he played a lot of the year with that pylon Phaneuf - a guy it should be reminded who was a cap dump last year.
I'd love to see Ceci play with a mobile, veteran defenseman for one year just to see how he actually plays in a better situation.
Absolutely. His utilization leaves a lot to be desired. BUT, who else do you play? The defense was pretty thin last year, lacked mobility, had too much inexperience and was playing in front of a goaltending duo who shat the bed on a nightly basis. It's a recipe for disaster if one has ever been cooked up.
Could he be better in more optimal conditions? I think the evidence suggests the answer is overwhelmingly yes. He's a victim of being on a team that's still building out their defense corps and will have some growing pains to match it.
Thank you. I used my powers of deduction. I also predict stone will sign in the 7.3 mill rangePretty good guess. He gets 4.3M.
Sens won't walk away. They had to expect to pay Ceci something in the 4M range.
If Ottawa elects for a 1 year term, I think that's a sign that they'd want to trade Ceci by the end of next season. A 1 year term opens up a new team to be able to sign Ceci to a long term extension as soon as January 2019 rather than having to be in the awkward spot where a team wants to acquire Ceci with 1.5 years left as a long term piece, but can't ink a contract until July 1st 2019.
If the Sens intend on keeping Ceci, electing for a 2 year term makes the most sense because now with a 4.3M salary, the minimum Ceci can make next year if qualified would be 4.3M. The only reason in this case to go with a 1 year deal would be to keep the option open of potentially just walking away from Ceci as a UFA next year because they don't think he is worth 4.3M and aren't sure there's a trade market for him. I don't think this is likely, but on a 1 year deal, the Senators could opt not to qualify Ceci next year, and then not have to pay him 4.3M for a second season.
Absolutely. His utilization leaves a lot to be desired. BUT, who else do you play? The defense was pretty thin last year, lacked mobility, had too much inexperience and was playing in front of a goaltending duo who shat the bed on a nightly basis. It's a recipe for disaster if one has ever been cooked up.
Could he be better in more optimal conditions? I think the evidence suggests the answer is overwhelmingly yes. He's a victim of being on a team that's still building out their defense corps and will have some growing pains to match it.
Per Friedman, Ceci at 4.3
Definitely not worth what he was awarded, but this is much better than anything north of 5 mil.
And like you said in front of one of the worst goaltending duos in the league... Losing Methot really hurt and Phaneuf slowing down really hurt his efficiency. How to fix this? Signing a once very good but on his last legs D-man in Oduya and throwing young D-men Claesson and Harpur into the fire. Going cheap rarely works out.
The "especially given Phaneuf's age" makes me particularly laugh here... Dion is 31 and his contract expires at 35 y/o, an age where most non-marginal NHL players still play at a great/good/decent level. Phaneuf is already slow so the argument can't be that he is going to be slow. Like many D-men before, his playing style and overall game won't be affected much by growing older from 31 to 35 (unless he doesn't take care of himself, but bad news for you he is apparently a fitness freak). The HF notion of age is ridiculous. He could even decide to lose a bit of weight to be faster (a bit like Neil did)
It's their own fault for overpaying on his last contract. It just shows you shouldn't pay for potential when a guy comes off his ELC. It can bite you in the next deal and beyond.
That's one hot take right here.
Could he be better in more optimal conditions? I think the evidence suggests the answer is overwhelmingly yes.
That's one hot take right here.
There's no hot take when there's people in this thread saying they'd walk away from Ceci. It sort of implies that they think there's no way he can be better than what he is.
AgreePretty good guess. He gets 4.3M.
Sens won't walk away. They had to expect to pay Ceci something in the 4M range.
If Ottawa elects for a 1 year term, I think that's a sign that they'd want to trade Ceci by the end of next season. A 1 year term opens up a new team to be able to sign Ceci to a long term extension as soon as January 2019 rather than having to be in the awkward spot where a team wants to acquire Ceci with 1.5 years left as a long term piece, but can't ink a contract until July 1st 2019.
If the Sens intend on keeping Ceci, electing for a 2 year term makes the most sense because now with a 4.3M salary, the minimum Ceci can make next year if qualified would be 4.3M. The only reason in this case to go with a 1 year deal would be to keep the option open of potentially just walking away from Ceci as a UFA next year because they don't think he is worth 4.3M and aren't sure there's a trade market for him. I don't think this is likely, but on a 1 year deal, the Senators could opt not to qualify Ceci next year, and then not have to pay him 4.3M for a second season.
I mean like dont sidestep the fact that you just said that there is overwhelming evidence for Ceci to be a respectable top 4 D. There is nothing tangible to support this. Im not saying that Ceci can't turn it around, but to claim that its just a matter of time before he becomes good is uhhh being optimistic and not an evidence based approach
I said he could be better in more optimal conditions. And yes there’s periods in his career where he showed a much higher caliber of play when put in better situations.
I’m saying this never ending crap fest is too over the top. Put him in a better spot and he’ll perform better. It’s pretty close to guaranteed.