Toronto Maple Leafs: Cody Ceci Returns, Timothy Liljegren Sent Down

The Toronto Maple Leafs received some good news on Friday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have played the last several games without half of their top six defenseman.

That situation was somewhat remedied last night when Cody Ceci was activated from the injured reserve and returned to the lineup against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Ceci has been on the I.R since February 5th when he hurt his ankle in a game against the Rangers.

Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries

While it’s nice that the Leafs are getting Ceci back, unfortunately they still are without their two best blueliners, Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin.

Still, Ceci’s return helps.

Ceci started the year on the Toronto Maple Leafs top pairing, and it was a move so bad that Mike Babcock may arguably still have a job today if he didn’t stubbornly stick with the disastrous idea.

If you thought Ron Hainsey was a bad partner for Morgan Rielly (and he was objectively awful) then Cody Ceci was a nightmare.

The Leafs moved Ceci to a more reasonable spot in the lineup almost as soon as Sheldon Keefe took over, then proceeded to win about 70% of their games until Morgan Rielly was injured.

Since then, they’ve impressively managed to keep their heads above water, and at this point the veteren Ceci’s return is very much welcome.

Though miscast as a top pairing guy, Ceci was excellent on the Toronto Maple Leafs third pairing, and he’s also been one of (if not their very best) penalty killers all season long.

To make room for Ceci, the Leafs optioned Timothy Liljegren back to the Marlies and scratched Rasmus Sandin from the lineup against the Ducks.

I am writing this ahead of the Ducks game, and by the time it comes out, we’ll know how the game went. I predict that Ceci will be a steadying force on an inexperienced blue line.

On the year, Ceci has just over a 50% Corsi, and the Leafs get 52% of the dangerous scoring chances when he’s on the ice.  He’s mostly over 50% in every stat, including expected goals.

Essentially Ceci has been a break-even player, and that’s not to bad considering how miscast he was early in the season on the top pairing.  He has one goal and eight points on the year.

Getting back Ceci isn’t exactly going to galvanize the Toronto Maple Leafs, but considering their decimated lineup, it’s something.