The Penguins like what they're seeing from defenseman Cody Ceci

Cody Ceci’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins got off to a rough start by any measure.

Or at least by any appraisal one could calculate out of him being a healthy scratch in three of the team’s first four games of the campaign in mid-January.

Considering Ceci was the Penguins’ most expensive free agent acquisition this past offseason — he was signed to a tidy one-year deal worth $1.25 million in October — there was bound to be plenty of scrutiny toward him.

Suffice it to say, carrying a seven-figure salary and accruing a handful of DND (did not dress) designations did little to silence those who felt the Penguins wasted what little salary cap space was at their disposal by bringing on a defenseman who struggled throughout the 2019-20 season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“It’s tough to judge someone on their first couple of games on a new team,” Penguins forward Teddy Blueger said. “Obviously, new city, new environment, new people, new everything. It would be kind of harsh to just judge someone on that.”

Today, the judgments of Ceci’s play are far more approbatory.

Entrenched on the team’s second defensive pairing along with partner Mike Matheson, Ceci has produced eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past 11 games while seeing virtually no time on the power play.

Six months after his signing largely was panned and three months after being a healthy scratch, Ceci has arguably become one of the team’s most consistent players.

“Him and Mikey have been great for us,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “He just does the right things. … He blocks shots. He just kind of keeps it simple and makes the right play over and over and over again. He’s another guy you know what to expect. Playing with Mikey, who’s a little bit more offensive-minded and joins the rush, he’s kind of his safety net back there. He’s been playing really, really good.”

After the Maple Leafs opted to cut ties with him as a pending unrestricted free agent, Ceci entered a relatively uncertain economic landscape. While right-handed defensemen are always a bit more in-demand than their southpaw colleagues, few teams had salary cap space to splurge on any player, especially one who failed to live up to ample expectations in a hornet’s nest of a hockey market such as Toronto, because of the pandemic wreaking havoc on the NHL’s finances.

The Penguins, who had just jettisoned the bloated contract of defenseman Jack Johnson via buyout, took a chance hoping Ceci could do what Johnson couldn’t do and reinvigorate his career under their watch.

“We felt Cody was a solid two-way defenseman,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s shown that through his body of work in his time here. He’s got (538) games under his belt. He’s established himself as a real solid two-way defenseman. He started that (as a member of the Ottawa Senators) and obviously continued on in Toronto. We felt that if in some new surroundings and new environment, that Cody would be a real solid serviceable defenseman for us. We were looking for that right-shot defenseman that we could add to our group we thought we could help us create the balance we’re looking for and be that two-way defenseman. Not just someone that defends but someone that could help us offensively with outlet passes or joining the rush or jumping off the offensive blue line or things of that sort.

“Cody’s shown a capacity to do that in his body of work here in the NHL. He’s killing penalties, and that’s something that we knew he was going to be good at. And he’s defending hard for us, as well. But we’ve really liked how he’s fit into our group.”

With the Maple Leafs and the Senators, Ceci primarily was deployed on the top pair. With the Penguins, he mostly has been relegated to the second or third pairs. As a result, his ice time with the Penguins (18:25) has dropped from the 21:00 he averaged in his first seven seasons.

Fewer minutes and lesser defensive assignments appear to have benefited Ceci.

“Energy-wise, you have a little bit more energy,” Ceci said. “You’re not really reserving yourself. You’re kind of fresh every shift.”

Injuries on defense early in the season largely dictated Ceci and Matheson being promoted to the second pairing. But even by the time defensemen John Marino and Marcus Pettersson had recuperated from various ailments, Ceci and Matheson had impressed coaches enough to remain on the second pair.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Ceci and Matheson have logged 315 minutes, 4 seconds of common five-on-five ice time this season. Only the top pair of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang (476:25) have clocked more among Penguins defensemen.

“We’re in the same shoes in a lot of ways,” said Matheson, who joined the Penguins via trade in September. “We’ve been able to have similar experiences in that sense. We’ve played together (for Canada in the 2016 IIHF World Championship Tournament) and have always known each other since then. So it’s been nice to have somebody who’s going through the same things. As for playing together, I think our chemistry is getting more and more effective as the games go on. The more experiences that we have and situations that we see on the ice, it allows us to grow our instincts together and get more used to playing together and be more effective.”

For both players, a greater level of effectiveness comes with a greater level of familiarity in their new surroundings. With a limited training camp because of the pandemic, each defenseman still was trying to figure things out when the season opened in January.

“He does so much better now than when we first had him at the beginning of the year,” Sullivan said of Ceci. “I’m sure he was overthinking a lot of it early on. Now, he’s much more comfortable in his surroundings. The one thing that I think he does a real good job at is he joins the rush. He sees it pretty good when the opportune times are to jump into the rush and help us present that four-man front on the entries. Sometimes he gets the puck, sometimes he doesn’t. But he’s in the rush all the time, and I think that helps us.”

Ceci’s future is as uncertain as it was this past offseason. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the league’s salary cap likely will remain flat at $81.5 million. Add in the Penguins facing something of a salary cap crunch, the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken and the likelihood Ceci will have more suitors as a right-handed defenseman who has rediscovered his game, and his tenure with the team could be limited to one satisfactory season.

At the same time, he seems to appreciate what he’s found in Pittsburgh.

“The biggest thing for me was just looking at the team as a whole,” Ceci said of what he found appealing about the Penguins as a free agent last offseason. “I liked the look of it. I liked all the guys. They’re all great players. I saw a good opportunity for us to do well. I thought there was a good opportunity for myself as well to fit in and help out defensively in a few areas. I’m just trying to do my best.”

His improvement over the past three months would suggest he has.

“He’s been awesome as a shut-down guy,” forward Jared McCann said. “You see him out there at the end of games blocking shots. … He’s a guy who does the little things right. That’s a guy you need on every team. We’re very, very lucky to have him.”

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