The structure of this contract is really interesting. Hoffman gets a huge raise during his UFA years. A good notch in Ottawa's belt as this is another player who they've managed to keep from losing to UFA.
My guess would be that this means that Ceci is made to sign the cheapest possible short term deal. Which is more of a risk for Ottawa, but if they have a budget, their only option is to get Ceci locked down to the cheapest possible deal.
I'm not saying Ottawa plans to trade Hoffman next year when he gets his raise, but this does open up that possibility, and I don't think it is that outlandish to speculate that it might be something that was considered with this deal. Hoffman gets his guaranteed money, and Ottawa gets at least one more cheap year out of Hoffman while opening up the door to get a better return for him in the 2017 off season than they would have gotten this off season.
Again, I'll give the disclaimer that I am not suggesting Ottawa do that, and I am not saying I think it is their absolute intention, but I think it might have been something considered as a possibility when structuring the deal. Almost everybody on their team are getting raises after each season and within the next 2 seasons, they are going to have to shed not just salary space, but also cap. Most likely situation is that Methot gets taken in the expansion draft and they rush Chabot into playing in the top 4, maybe on Karlsson's left side. But they can't bank on that.
Regardless, any way you cut it, this is a pretty good signing for Ottawa. To get Hoffman at lower than some other comparable contracts, as well as signed on a favourable term is a big win.