Ex-Edmonton Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci has closed one chapter of his career and is set to start another following a trade to the San Jose Sharks earlier this week.
The 30-year-old defenceman will now head to the West Coast after spending the last three seasons playing for the Oilers. During that time, Ceci appeared in 237 regular season games as an Oiler and 52 playoff games.
It was a significant portion of Ceci’s career to date and he came within one win from winning his first Stanley Cup with the Oilers last season.
With that, Ceci took to his personal Instagram last night to thank Oilers fans and share some photos of his time with the team.
“Thank you, Oil Country,” Ceci captioned his post. “On to our next chapter in San Jose.”
Ceci was quite a popular figure within the Oilers locker room, notably with superstar Leon Draisaitl. The two had quite a strong bond as teammates and friends with Draisaitl even taking the time to make a hilarious post on his Instagram dedicated to saying goodbye to Ceci.
Draisaitl, predictably, commented on Ceci’s post with a teary-eyed emoji.
@codyceci/Instagram
Perhaps his most important contributions to the Oilers during his tenure came from a trio of brilliant Game 7 performances. He opened up the scoring in Game 7 against the LA Kings in the first round of the 2022 NHL playoffs as well as Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round this past season. Though he didn’t score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final last year, he did assist on Edmonton’s only goal in that game.
The photos Ceci chose to include in his post captured the 2023 Heritage Classic from this past season, goal celebrations with his teammates, and a shot of him and his dog Hugo, who won the highly popular Ruff-Ruff Relay at last year’s Oilers skills competition.
Oilers fans will get a chance to welcome Ceci back to Rogers Place when the Sharks visit Edmonton for the first time next season on December 21.