Cody Ceci opens up about trade from Oilers: "I'll never forget"
No player in the entire NHL has undergone as dramatic a shift in expectations going into next season as former Edmonton Oilers player Cody Ceci has this summer.
After coming within a single win of winning the Stanley Cup and assisting on the team’s only goal in Game 7 of the Final, Ceci went from preparing for another season with high expectations to being traded to the NHL’s last-place San Jose Sharks.
The 30-year-old defenceman is already in San Jose just a few weeks after the trade to skate with his new team. Ceci appeared on the What Chaos! podcast earlier this week to open up about his feelings on the trade for the first time.
It appears the veteran is optimistic about the future but sad that things had to come to an end in Edmonton.
“I was definitely happy to be in that organization for a few years, and we definitely had a lot of good runs, so that’s a part of my career I’ll never forget,” Ceci said of the Oilers. “Definitely a different mindset going into this season. I’ll be looked at more as a veteran guy for young guys to lean on and ask questions.”
Ceci will join the Sharks alongside young players like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. With his experience playing alongside players like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Auston Matthews, Ceci will undoubtedly be a useful resource for San Jose’s youngsters.
One of the things that many fans loved to see following Ceci’s trade was a hilarious Instagram post from Leon Draisaitl bidding his friend and teammate farewell. The post included an amazing photo of Ceci faceplanting into the boards.
Ceci made sure to give some background on that photo.
“I’ve seen that second picture a million times,” laughed Ceci. “He loves that one. We sat together on the plane, and we would always go over some game footage on the iPad, and sometimes we would relive happy or funny things that happened in the game, and that was one of them… Wasn’t surprised he posted that.”
Heading to San Jose, Ceci’s #5 jersey number, which he wore with the Oilers, isn’t available. Ex-Oilers defenceman Matt Benning is carrying it, so Ceci will have to pick another number.
Ceci joked that he was eying up #97 to honour McDavid on his new team.
“I joked with my buddies about that exact same thing,” Ceci laughed. “They were like, ‘Go 99,’ and I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m going 97.'”
Instead, the ex-Oiler will be sporting the #4 jersey on the West Coast, which he wore as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Oilers fans will get a chance to see him in that new sweater when the Sharks come to the Alberta capital on December 21.