If Petts and his freed up cap space give us an impact player for the 3rd line, either directly or by allowing someone like Kapanen or Rust to slide down, then great. Otherwise why did we do this?
Depth. Decent depth at a decent price. Disclaimer - I'm not a major fan of this (on top of that, I think we could have got him cheaper). That said, it's funny how most people on here recognized #6 RD was a weak point. Now, we signed a player to fill that hole and people are mad. I just went through the list and of the available players, there aren't many...if any...that I would have preferred to sign. Keokkeok may be an exception but I think it's a toss up.
I think the negativity here is mostly reactionary. Ceci himself at this price is fine...I think the only valid argument is how JR elected to use the remaining cap space. Ceci on or off this roster at that price is not what is making us a contender vs not a contender.
I think Ceci was put in the position to have to play over his ability level. Same with Matheson. Think about this, we just got two guys that were top pairing guys for their last team (results not withstanding). Ceci will likely be a good bottom pairing dman. Matheson will likely be a good 2nd or 3rd pairing dman. Both fill a hole.
I just hope that Jankowski and ERod can fill the holes the JR hopes they can.
Jake-Sid-Rust
Zucker-Geno-Kapanen
McCann-Jankowski-ERod
Sceviour-Bleuger-Tanev
Dumo-Letang
Matheson-Marino
Pettersson-Ceci
Jarry/CDS
is likely what we are seeing on opening night save for a line differences. Poulin, POJ, and Maniscalco being the wildcards.