Cody Ceci Autographed Card

Fresh from having bought their way out Jack Johnson's contract, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed an equally defensively-minded rearguard, Cody Ceci, to a one-year deal worth $1.25M, a more than $3M paycut for the former Ottawa Senators first-round draft pick.

At his best, the 26-year-old defenseman is a second-pair defender who can be counted on for 5 to 10 goals and 20 to 25 points in a given season, who plays decently well against the bottom of a lineup in his own zone, using his 6'2" frame and 210 pounds to clear the net and knock the puck around without amassing too many penalty minutes.

Other times, he can be seen as a liability in all three zones, as Toronto Maple Leafs fans will likely attest.

There is ample time for redemption, but the Pens are likely the worst possible team for him to try to find it, because their best defendeman, Kris Letang, also plays on the right side, is often injured, and will turn 34 sometime this season, with a lot of mileage on his body. John Marino is his heir apparent, which Pittsburgh management probably hopes relegates Ceci to his recent comfort zone as a depth insurance policy.

At this point, I will not hold my breath to see him develop into the next Jay Bouwmeester, but if he can fulfill the shut-down role this season and keep putting up good penalty-kill numbers, maybe he can evolve into a Ron Hainsey-veteran type who will never be out of work and will always earn his paycheque, which is a lot better than his detractors make him out to be.

Here he is wearing the Sens' red (home) uniform on the Rainbow Foil variant of card #7 from the 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee set by Upper Deck:

He sigend it in blue sharpie during the 2016-17 season. It looks very blue in the scan, but the card is silver to the naked eye, and actually makes the Senators' uniform look pretty good.