Former Oiler Cody Ceci has been ‘phenomenal’ addition for the Stars

This time last year, Cody Ceci faced off against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final with the Edmonton Oilers. This time, he finds himself on the other end of the ice as a member of the Stars, looking to defeat his former Oilers teammates for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

Last summer, Ceci was traded as a salary cap dump to the San Jose Sharks from the Oilers for Ty Emberson. Ahead of the trade deadline, Ceci would be traded to the Stars along with teammate Mikael Granlund for a 2025 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick.

Fans had mixed feelings about the defenceman during his time with Edmonton. However, since joining the Stars, he has found himself in a significant role. Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports discussed Ceci’s performance this season in Dallas while appearing on the Kevin Karius show.

“He has been phenomenal. He’s been playing primarily with Esa Lindell and they have been not only a really good shutdown d-pairing, he’s kind of taken over from Ilya Lyubushkin as the first penalty-killing duo on the backend. Early on I would’ve thought that maybe it was between Ceci and Lyubushkin and Alex Petrovic, of who’s going to come out when Heiskanen was healthy but there’s no doubt, if you just look at the usage numbers, Ceci has been playing well over 20 minutes a night, he’s not coming out and Lyubushkin has been playing more minutes than Petrovic.”

Newkirk recalled watching Ceci last year with Edmonton and how fans discussed the flaws in his game. It seems his performance has significantly improved with the Dallas Stars.

“My goodness, what an addition. I watched Ceci play with the Oilers last year and I know there were groanings about his game from I don’t know weather it was media or fans, he’s been nothing but fantastic for this group and it’s not just the defence side of it, he does like to get up in the play, I’m sure you guys are well aware of that from watching him, he’s not afraid to join the rush, there’s time where he’s parked at the top of the crease but boy he’s complimentary style, how he plays with Lindell, the way he skates, the way he gets pucks out of the zone, has been a really important factor.”

Stuart Skinner yesterday was asked about his former teammate and why he thinks he’s had success with the Dallas Stars.

“Anywhere he plays, he’s going to be successful, he’s just a big body that knows how to play the game in a really smart, educated way. He just plays a really intelligent game, he’s smart with the puck, he makes the right decisions, great first pass, see’s the open guy, gets gritty in the corners, good guy to have on the penalty kill, so he really does do it all in the d-zone and again he’s just really smart.”

Ceci will have a tough test in stopping his former teammates and determining whether he can use his experience playing with the likes of Draisaitl and McDavid to his advantage.

The Oilers will play Cody Ceci and the Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final tonight at 6:00 p.m. MST.