Reality Czech
Registered User
- Apr 17, 2017
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Ceci is better than every d-man they have on the right side not named Evan Bouchard and they're trying to win this season. He's also been very durable for them. Instead they've complicated their cap situation for a replacement making over 2x what they feel he deserves with limited NHL playing time and questions about how he'll hold up over the course of a full season.
Moving Ceci makes sense if you can find a better replacement while you're trying to win now. There are big questions about whether they've accomplished that and they've minimized their opportunity to do so later this season.
Could it work out if Broberg stays healthy and outplays Ceci despite playing on his off wing again where he's reportedly not comfortable? It's possible, but that's far from a guarantee.
This doesn't even consider the cap crunch next offseason brings when they're paying nearly $14M for their second defensive pairing and needing pay Bouchard upwards of $9.5M in addition to whatever huge cost Draisaitl will command.
I know some OIler fans are down on Ceci, but if they traded him and still don't match on Broberg then that fan base is gonna lose it. I've been reading a lot of their comments as I'm sure many of you have been and a lot of them argued that they'd prefer Ceci and the 2nd instead of Broberg. I'd say the only way they don't match on Broberg at this point is if they have some other trick up their sleeve to acquire a different d-man to replace him.