Ex-Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ceci on pace to achieve rare NHL feat
The 2024-25 NHL season has been a weird one for ex-Edmonton Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci, and it could end with him nearly tying an obscure record.
Ceci was traded to the San Jose Sharks last summer in a deal that sent Ty Emberson to the Oilers. This was a major change for Ceci as he moved from a team that was one game away from winning the Stanley Cup to a team that finished dead last in the entire league.
He took the change of scenery in stride, however, as he played the first 54 games of the season in a Sharks uniform before then being shipped off to the Dallas Stars. Because of how each teams’ schedules worked out, Ceci is now on pace to play a total of 85 regular-season games despite the season only being 82 games long for each team.
Ceci would become just the ninth player in NHL history to play at least 85Ā games in a single regular season if he plays the remainder of the Stars’ schedule.
He won’t quite hit the record of 86 held by Jimmy Carson and Bob Kudelski.
Statmuse
While it’s not the record, an argument could be had that what Ceci is doing is more impressive than the 86-game players. Both Carson and Kudelski set those records when the NHL was using an 84-game regular season schedule. The NHL moved to an 82-game schedule in 1995-96 and has kept it that way ever since.
Ceci could play three extra games than usual this season, making his journey to 85 a little more difficult.
What is even more peculiar about this whole stat is the number of former Oilers on the list who have done something similar. Carson played in Edmonton for a time in the late 1980s, but the list of players who played 85 games also includes players like Glenn Anderson, Bill Guerin, Mark Lamb, Rem Murray, and Tyson Barrie.