Toronto Maple Leafs: Cody Ceci continues to be a problem
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to find their game with Sheldon Keefe but Cody Ceci’s struggles continue and you wonder how much longer it can continue.
It wasn’t too long ago where Kyle Dubas stood in front of Toronto Maple Leafs reporters and defended Cody Ceci leaving a lot of people confused especially fans.
You can’t blame the general manager for trying to instill some confidence in a player that has taken a beating on social media. Most of it has been justified and if it weren’t for some stellar goaltending from Frederik Andersen against the Buffalo Sabres, things could have looked bad for Ceci.
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It’s easy to dump on one player when things do go right but there seems to be a consensus opinion about Ceci especially about his play in front of his own net.
When you look back at the goal that tied the game for the Sabres, Ilya Mikheyev could have done a better job of not giving Rasmus Ristalainen an open lane to the net. At the same time, Mikheyev wasn’t the last line of defence as Ceci was in a position to challenge Ristolainen but instead of doing that, he gets his feet taken out from under him and the Sabres would score.
If Ceci would have made an attempt to challenge Ristolainen and he still scored, it wouldn’t have made him look as bad. This isn’t the only thing that should be pointed out from this game either.
https://twitter.com/mirtle/status/1200967707522486272
Andrew Berkshire wrote for Sportsnet how Ceci and Morgan Rielly struggle to defend the high slot and blocking passes. You can see how much the duo struggle to defend in front of the net and at while it hasn’t been a major problem recently, it could remain a long term issue.
We knew that trading for Ceci was the price to get rid of Nikita Zaitsev’s contract and it’s unlikely to see him being moved at this point but if Dubas is able to, he should consider it.
Next. William Nylander proving doubters wrong. dark
Are you someone who likes Ceci or do you wish the Leafs would find a way to move on from him? Let us know in the comments below.