Moving better and playing better are two different things. Emberson may move better than Ceci but let’s see how that translates into game play over an 82 game season. I’m not saying he isn’t far better but anointing him as our 2nd pair RD based on almost 0 NHL experience is premature right now. Hopefully he will.
As for the pro scouts Warren Rychel and Chris Chichoki were with the team under Holland and continue to be. Dani Kearley was hired last season under Holland. Those pro scouts are all still here and we’ve only added Zack Kassian the other day promoting Warren Rychel. The guy he replaced was here for a while under Holland. So no, the pro scouts when we brought in Emberson were all the long term Holland hires or even predate Holland. I have 0 faith in this pro scouting team until their work proves otherwise.
I like the gamble on Emberson and feel the decision making on him likely goes deeper than pro scouting. Knoblauch would have a full year insight at pro, Bowman through his work at USA Hockey, and it would seem an information supported decision through analytics group.
That said, I feel Ceci is being undervalued for the hard minute role required by this team. Heavy defensive zone starts, 59.7% (regular season) with top pair PK time, and heavily titled defending role. Ceci was still an 25 point, +12, 20:01 TOI contributor. Big body too at 6'3" 210 pounds.A lot of good, hard minutes played unfortunately unravelled at times with erratic decisions both by Ceci and Nurse, a pairing they needed to move away from. But it's still a big gap. 2RD will need to be fixed at trade deadline.
Ceci's skating is still solid looking NHLEdge comparables with Emberson. But moreso his decision making stretched too far with too many minutes and weighted hard ice situational play extends him beyond his best quality usage and deployment imo:
NHL EDGE Puck and Player Tracking Statistics - Comparisons
RD is no where good enough for a deep playoff contender.
