The Kings are making a change on the blue line Tuesday night, with right-shot defenceman Cody Ceci set to be scratched for their matchup against the Washington Capitals, according to LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley.
Ceci is in the second season of a four-year contract that carries a cap hit of $4.5 million. The Ottawa native signed with Los Angeles in the 2025 off-season and played every one of the Kings’ 82 games in 2025-26, finishing with a goal and nine points.
He also appeared in three more games during their ill-fated 2026 postseason. This season, he’s dressed for all six games and has one assist.
It’s another stop in a long NHL tour for Ceci, whose career has taken him through seven teams. He began with his hometown Ottawa Senators in 2013-14, later spent brief stretches with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins during the pandemic era, and then landed with the Oilers on a four-year deal before the 2021-22 season, where he scored two Game 7 goals.
Ceci was traded during the 2025 off-season to the San Jose Sharks for Ty Emberson and played 54 games there. Before the 2025 trade deadline, he was moved again, this time to the Dallas Stars, where he picked up nine assists over the final 31 regular-season games and added three more assists in 18 playoff games.
The scratch comes as Los Angeles continues to search for its first win of the 2026-27 season. The Kings are off to a National Hockey League-worst 0-4-2 start and remain the last team still looking for a victory.
Elsewhere in the league, the Flyers’ forward group is drawing attention of its own. Philadelphia opened the season 0-6-3 before winning its last two games, and Anthony Di Marco reported that a team source said something will “have to give”, a sign a trade could be coming soon.
Di Marco pointed to Travis Konecny or Owen Tippett as possible names to watch, while also noting the Flyers are looking for a top-six centre. Konecny, 29, is in the second year of an eight-year contract with an $8.75 million cap hit and a full no-move clause running through the 2031-32 season.
The London, Ontario product is a reliable 25-goal, 60-point producer, though his playoff résumé is limited. He is currently on injured reserve.
Tippett, 27, is also on injured reserve. He doesn’t have Konecny’s track record, but he has hovered around the 25-goal, 47-point range over the last four seasons. The Peterborough, Ontario native carries a $6.2 million cap hit on the third year of an eight-year deal and has a 10-team no-trade list.
The reason Philadelphia is even in this conversation is simple: when healthy, the wing depth is crowded. Along with Konecny and Tippett, the Flyers also have Trevor Zegras, Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, and Tyson Foerster on the wing, while they remain thin down the middle.
Wednesday’s game in Ottawa brings another headline story, with Brady Tkachuk returning to face the Senators for the first time since being dealt to the Florida Panthers this past summer.
Tkachuk was selected fourth overall by Ottawa in 2018 and played 572 games for the franchise, scoring 213 goals and 463 points. The Senators traded him to Florida in a summer deal that brought back a package including the ninth overall pick, which Ottawa then sent to the San Jose Sharks for William Eklund.
His start with the Panthers was quiet, but that has changed quickly. Tkachuk scored back-to-back natural hat tricks this past week and now has six goals and nine points in nine games.
The homecoming figures to carry plenty of edge, and Tkachuk clearly knows the reception could be loud. On his podcast recently, he said that any jersey thrown on the ice will be donated to Ottawa’s Boys and Girls Club.
Even with the storyline around the return, the matchup should have plenty of bite. The two teams have brought plenty of chippiness in recent seasons, and this one looks no different.
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