Player Discussion When Will Evan Bouchard Surpass Cody Ceci?

[LaGu]

Bouchard should be having his ups and downs as any rookie/young D. Ceci will be ahead of him on most nights, even if Bouchard on that night plays better. Time will tell I guess, but I think Ceci will play more than Bouchard for like 4/5ths of the year. Bouchard will get some stretches of games with more minutes when playing excellent.

 

[LTIR]

The obvious option of "already has" is missing from the poll

 

[Magnum23]

If Bouchard outplays Ceci and becomes a solid 2RHD then imo our d-core should be really solid.

4K - Ceci as our third pair is probably the strongest 5/6 combo we had in years.

 

[voxel]

How about neither? I don't want either to be playing 2RHD much this season.

 

[LTIR]

If Bouchard outplays Ceci and becomes a solid 2RHD then imo our d-core should be really solid.

4K - Ceci as our third pair is probably the strongest 5/6 combo we had in years.

Depends upon you view of Ceci and KK. Seems to be on par with a Russell/Lagesson -Bear pairing to me.

 

[LTIR]

How about neither? I don't want either to be playing 2RHD much this season.

You must really like Russell then

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Bouch is better then him right now.

 

[ManofSteel55]

$3.25M is fat now? It seems to me a decent amount that if he's passed by a guy on ELC, it works nicely.

I think some people are so stuck on the "Ceci sucks" train that it wouldn't matter what he was paid. I do think he may have been mildly overpaid in salary. It's his 4 years that I don't especially like. That's an eternity in the NHL.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Yes, it's definitely going to cost the team a Yamamoto or a Bouchard.

When guys like Gudbranson get similar deals, Ceci isn't going to be a contract that we can't trade. I don't think it will cost us anything.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

When guys like Gudbranson get similar deals, Ceci isn't going to be a contract that we can't trade. I don't think it will cost us anything.

That's just stupid if you think that Ceci and Gudbranson are on the same level.

 

[bobbythebrain]

The right answer is.. last night

He was our best dman

 

[voxel]

You must really like Russell then

I wish we had better options rather than forcing a rookie (21GP!) into a top-4 spot and an over the hill vet there too.

I don't want Starfish Man there either.

 

[LTIR]

I wish we had better options rather than forcing a rookie (21GP!) into a top-4 spot and an over the hill vet there too.

I don't want Starfish Man there either.

Yeh, gotta work with what we got... Darn that Larsson!!

 

[LTIR]

That's just stupid if you think that Ceci and Gudbranson are on the same level.

I think it is stupid to claim that one knows what Ceci's level is..
Let's just hope our pro scouts knew what they were recommending and he lives up to his salary.

I wouldn't have been surprised if he went unsigned and was given a PTO from someone..

 

[NoDust33]

I think it is stupid to claim that one knows what Ceci's level is..
Let's just hope our pro scouts knew what they were recommending and he lives up to his salary.

I wouldn't have been surprised if he went unsigned and was given a PTO from someone..

Just speculating, but I find that hard to believe considering he signed a 4 year deal hours into free agency... Ultimately he may not be worth this contract but to suggest there wasn't significant interest from other teams and Holland offered this deal when Ceci didn't have any others on the table seems pretty unrealistic.

 

[NoDust33]

When guys like Gudbranson get similar deals, Ceci isn't going to be a contract that we can't trade. I don't think it will cost us anything.

Its a solid point. I think that was one of the benefits of signing one of the younger FA dmen available. In 2 years, Ceci is only 29 with 2 years left on his deal. The risk is his reputation falls off completely. But if he's a capable 5 defenceman, I think that's a movable contract for a 29 year old defenceman.

 

[Mr Positive]

In a buyout-laden frozen cap world, a 3.25m contract with term isn’t a small contract. Maybe Ceci’s isn’t ‘fat’ but its no budget deal, and you only get to pay a few guys over 3m if you are paying others 12.5. We’ll be lucky if we’re looking back at this signing in a few years in the same way we ruefully worried over Kris Russel’s 4M deal. It’s going to prevent us from re-signing certain players, or improving the defence in a meaningful way.

Ceci's deal is better than Russell's 4x4, with a NTC and during a smaller cap. Russell was also worth that deal. If Ceci puts up 16 minutes a night with PK time, that's a good deal.

 

[ManofSteel55]

That's just stupid if you think that Ceci and Gudbranson are on the same level.

Seriously? Calling someone stupid? Grow up.

I don't think they are on the same level at all. I think Ceci is a bottom pairing defenseman who can play as a #4 at times (or did so last year),and Gudbranson is a pylon coasting on size and draft status. I think what we know based on the ludicrous Gudbranson signing is that once Bouchard has moved up the depth chart, if Ceci's contract is an issue, it should still be movable as a 4/5/6 right shot defenseman. Unless he totally falls apart here I guess.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Just speculating, but I find that hard to believe considering he signed a 4 year deal hours into free agency... Ultimately he may not be worth this contract but to suggest there wasn't significant interest from other teams and Holland offered this deal when Ceci didn't have any others on the table seems pretty unrealistic.

By all accounts from Pittsburgh fans, Ceci played well for them last year and was worth his salary until they had to try him on the top pair. That doesn't sound like PTO player to me. For some reason Ceci's reputation on these boards hasn't recovered from the beating it took in his last year in Ottawa and in Toronto, despite his different role and improved play from those times.

 

[oobga]

I'm pretty low on Ceci so it's not a very high bar. I think Bouch could help the team win more already. Key will be gaining Tippett's trust though for him to have opportunity to show what he can do. Every defensive error will be magnified for Bouch more than anyone else on this team.

 

[NoDust33]

I'm pretty low on Ceci so it's not a very high bar. I think Bouch could help the team win more already. Key will be gaining Tippett's trust though for him to have opportunity to show what he can do. Every defensive error will be magnified for Bouch more than anyone else on this team.

I actually disagree with that, I think Ceci and Keith, even Nurse, will have a bigger target on them than Bouchard and that's precisely why it's important to bring in established veterans to take that hit so young guys can find their game.

 

[oobga]

I actually disagree with that, I think Ceci and Keith, even Nurse, will have a bigger target on them than Bouchard and that's precisely why it's important to bring in established veterans to take that hit so young guys can find their game.

From the fans? I would agree with that. But from Tippett? I think he is far more forgiving to vets. Like a couple post games ago someone asked him what he thought of Bouch's night "I don't think he played well". Then someone asks about Ceci who IMO was worse, "I'll have to watch the tape, I thought the whole group wasn't good". I think Bouch is going to get the tough love pretty quick with Tip, he's already done it. If that is good or bad, that is more questionable. Maybe Tip will do that because he knows this is a key point in Bouch's career that he needs to keep drilling home the importance of his own end and he thinks it's kinda pointless at this stage to rail on guys like Ceci.

 

[Bank Shot]

Hard to say. Development isn't linear.

I like the fact that we have some depth to shelter Bouchard. Would hate to see him throw in the deep end and drown like Justin Schultz.

Oilers are making the right move bringing Bouchard along when he's in a position to succeed.

 

[ottawah]

Different players. You are not going to throw Bouchard out 20+ minutes a night against the leagues best and be asked to kill 8 minutes of penalties, he will get killed. You are also not going to ask Ceci to be your main offensive guy, lead the breakout and run the power play. The three right D will likely all be situational players, and played to their strengths not their weaknesses. Some nights Ceci will have the second most minutes, heck maybe the most. Other nights he will be the lowest. At the end of the year, his minutes per game may be the lower than Bouchard, they may possibly be above Bouchard, but that will not designate one or the other as the second or third pairing. Barrie and Ceci have pretty defined roles to play, and Bouchard is likely to eat up all the minutes between those two roles, which will still be significant.

 

[Czechboy]

Last season