May 17, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) and Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) shake hands after the Panthers defeated the Bruins in game six of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The NHL offseason is a time when teams bolster their rosters through signings and trades. Sometimes that’s for the long haul, but often the player is a stopgap whose eventual fate is pulling on another team’s jersey at the next trade deadline.
Look at Jason Zucker last season. He signed a one-year deal for a good amount of money with the Arizona Coyotes after four seasons in Pittsburgh. Arizona knew it would get some solid veteran play from the 32-year-old. Zucker knew his pedigree and pending free agent status meant he’d probably be flipped at the deadline. Sure enough, the Coyotes traded Zucker to the Nashville Predators, whom he helped reach the Western Conference playoffs
Here are 10 players who signed deals or were acquired in the 2024 offseason who could end up on the move by the 2025 trade deadline — some of them by design; others out of necessity because conditions changed.
When the Edmonton Oilers moved Ceci, the assumption was that it was meant to create financial flexibility to match the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheets tendered to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. Getting Ceci’s $3.25 million cap hit off the books did give the Oilers some breathing room, although it ended up not being in service of matching either offer sheet. Instead, general manager Stan Bowman was just trying to get younger, having acquired 24-year-old Ty Emberson from the Sharks in the Ceci trade.
Although Sharks GM Mike Grier called him a “high-character kid,” Ceci turns 31 in December. He gives the Sharks a much-needed veteran presence on their blue line and Grier says he believes he will improve their penalty kill. But he’s in the last year of his contract, which makes him an obvious rental play for a Sharks team that’s still amassing future assets in their rebuild.
Ceci averaged more than 20 minutes per game in his three seasons with the Oilers, rarely sitting out as a stay-at-home defenseman. In the regular season, he was one of those players who was never as bad as his detractors claimed, and never as good as his team would declare. But in the playoffs, the fans’ skepticism was validated — Ceci and Darnell Nurse combined for an atrocious 33.8% expected goals percentage at 5-on-5.
