Oilers – the TO rescue 911 crew

Cody Ceci

It was the aftermath of the Seattle expansion draft and the Oilers had just lost a key piece of the D corps in Adam Larsson after Seattle signed him in free agency. Larsson’s father had died while visiting Larsson in Edmonton, so he felt he had a black cloud over him after his contract expired and needed a new chapter somewhere else. Hard to compete with circumstances like that.
Technically it was Pittsburgh who started the initial rehabilitation of Ceci’s career, but the Oilers put it on turbocharge. They offered him $3.25 million in free agency for four years, which Ceci signed. Ken Holland has looked like a genius with this signing – not only has Ceci performed his role as a stay at home guy, but he’s thrived in the role, to the point where he’s once again playing on the top pairing for the Oilers as the stay at home guy who laps up plenty of Darnell Nurse’s leftovers as not only did he provide fantastic defensive work, but he put up 28 points in the process, the most offence he’s produced in four years.
This contract now looks like a complete and total bargain considering the vital role Ceci plays to the corps. Thank goodness Toronto cast him aside and Pittsburgh didn’t have the space to re-sign him. The Oilers top pairing is now locked up for the next three seasons at least.