Ottawa Senators Now Have to Attend to Cody Ceci Contract

The Ottawa Senators got a deal done with arguably their most important free agent Mike Hoffman. Now attention turns to Cody Ceci’s status.

Although Ceci might not be the bonafide star that Hoffman has proven to be, he’s still a youthful defenseman who looks on the verge of taking that next step as a player.

Comparable players with similar production have gotten long term deals worth between $4-5 million per season, but the Senators seem hesitant to commit to him at this point.

They’d prefer a bridge deal for 2 years that allows Ceci to get some money while also proving that he’s worthy of a hefty investment.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and Ceci’s agent J.P. Barry have exchanged proposals on that 2 year deal, but their figures are still far apart.

Dorion noted that the arbitration hearing with Hoffman served as a motivation to get a deal done promptly, but that a Ceci deal is more dependent on him being signed before the start of the regular season.

“I can assure you that Cody will be playing for us on October 12,” said Dorion. The Senators open the regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs that day.

Assuming that Dorion keeps his word, this seemingly rules out trading Ceci, as had been suggested in some rumors.

Dorion is firmly drawing a line in the sand with these comments, and in a lot of ways has tipped his hand in these negotiations.

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Guaranteeing that a Ceci deal will get done by the season opener will serve as a condemning sound byte if negotiations continue to stall.

If Ceci wants long term commitment, he can easily hold out into the regular season. There’s no economic argument remaining as to why the Senators can’t devote that much money to him.

The Derick Brassard trade gave them increased financial flexibility going into next offseason. They don’t have to worry about giving Mika Zibanejad his raise next season, and that money can be used instead to secure Ceci long term.

Whether they think he’s worthy of that money from a talent perspective is still up in the air, but precedent states that he’s not being unreasonable by wanting a contract somewhere in the range of 6 years and $24 million.

If Ceci stands firm on what he feels he’s worth, Dorion may have no choice but to give in, not just because of the decrease in talent in the defensive unit minus Ceci, but because there’s no financial strain attached to it anymore.

Whether Ceci is willing to risk missing part of the season to prove a point is unknown, and missing valuable regular season time will probably cause his performance to slip next season, hence hurting his value down the road.

Both sides have a lot to lose in these negotiations, but the Hoffman deal is an encouraging sign that Ceci will get a deal done as well.

There’s just not as much urgency or consequentiality for next offseason attached to Ceci’s situation. If Hoffman had been awarded a 1 year contract in arbitration, he’d have become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

Worst case scenario is that Ceci gets a 2 year deal instead of the 6 year deal that he has been seeking. If the money is still in the neighborhood of $4 million annually regardless of duration, Ceci will probably take it.

However, the Senators would have to be prepared to give Ceci another raise if he continues to improve on his performance, like he has each season he has been in the league.

It’s somewhat similar to their predicament with Hoffman, but it would be 2 years from now that the Senators would be put in a bind instead of 1 year.

If the Senators give Ceci the long term deal he’s seeking now and Ceci continues improving, it becomes a bargain for the team.

The price is only going to go up if Ceci enters that 40-45 point range by the time his bridge deal expires.

In the long run, the Senators could use this opportunity to save money in the process, because they could end up paying Ceci $4 million each year for the last 4 years of a 6 year contract.

If Ceci has 40+ points by the time of the 2018 offseason, then he’ll probably be commanding $5-6 million per season on a new contract.

The Senators need to lock him up when he’s at his cheapest. Of course, it’s assuming that he’ll continue his ascension into that productivity.

I think he will, so I’m urging the Senators front office to give him that 6 year deal before his price tag goes up.

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For the next couple seasons, though, it appears like Ceci will be playing in Ottawa. After that, it doesn’t seem as certain, and the front office has an important gamble to make on Ceci’s ability.

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