4 UFA Defensemen Washington Capitals Should Target

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Cody Ceci Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /

#3 Cody Ceci

Cody Ceci is a right handed defenseman from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has a much cheaper cap hit of $1.25 million. That may be a reasonable price for the Caps as they continue the trend of adding former Penguins to the roster. If they lose Justin Schultz in the expansion draft, maybe it’ll be addition by subtraction with this one.

Ceci is 27 years old which helps the Caps in their case to get younger. The 2021 season was Ceci’s only season with the Penguins as he scored four goals and added 13 assists for 17 points in 53 games. He finished with a whopping +/- of +18 while averaging 18:31 minutes of ice time.

Ceci spent most of his career with the Ottawa Senators as he was drafted in the first round at 15th overall in 2012. He was traded in 2019 to the Toronto Maple Leafs and spent one season there before signing on with the Penguins as a free agent.

Like Murray, his advanced stats aren’t great but they are OK. Ceci finished with a Corsi For percentage of 48.31 percent, an Expected Goals For percentage of 48.67 percent and a Scoring Chances For percentage of 48.34 percent.

With a good price, the Caps could potentially add him to the defense.

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