Jim Rutherford is always willing to give someone a second chance.

He has had success and failures in providing safe harbor to wayward souls ranging from Phil Kessel to Jack Johnson during his tenure as Penguins general manager.

With Saturday’s signing of defenseman Cody Ceci, formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to a one-year contract worth $1.25 million, Rutherford is a little hesitant to brand it as a second chance.

“Probably the best way to say it is it’s a reset year in a few ways for a guy like him,” Rutherford said by phone Saturday. “I guess it depends on who you talk to (on) what kind of year he had in Toronto. He had a decent year in Toronto based on what we look at. He’s still a relatively young guy that’s capable and certainly capable of helping us.”

However his signing is labeled, the 26-year-old is looking to rebound from a season that was below his own standards by most measures.

Limited to 56 games in 2019-20 because of an ankle injury (as well as the coronavirus pandemic, which halted the regular season in mid-March), Ceci produced only eight points (one goal, seven assists). That was well below the career-high of 26 points he recorded the previous season as a member of the Ottawa Senators.

“I think I’m a two-way defenseman,” Ceci said in a video conference with media. “Kind of got away from it a little bit last year. Just looking to add that offensive side back a little bit more. … I’m just trying to add a little more of the two-way game back that I had previously in my career.”

A right-handed defenseman, Ceci, drafted 15th overall by the Senators in 2012, isn’t likely to replace fellow right-handers Kris Letang or John Marino on the Penguins power play. He was acquired primarily for his defensive game. Last season, while averaging 20 minutes, 32 seconds of ice time per game, he led the Maple Leafs in average short-handed ice time at 2:50.

“(Penguins management) just said they have some high-end offensive talent, and they were looking to add some more defensive guys with more defensive strengths to their lineup,” said Ceci, who was signed to a one-year deal worth $4.5 million in 2019-20. “They thought I fit well and I kind of agreed. Just thought I was a good defensive fit for them.”

Said Rutherford: “He kills penalties pretty well. Depending on the system, we feel that he can change his game a little bit. When we looked at it with our system, we felt putting him the right situation to succeed, he can do well. He can help us.”

Presumably, Ceci, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, figures to compete with Chad Ruhwedel on the right side of the Penguins’ third defensive pairing, but Rutherford was hesitant to draw up a depth chart yet.

“The best way answer to that is to let (coach Mike Sullivan) sort it out at camp,” Rutherford said. “Him and (assistant coach Todd Reirden), they’ll take a look at the defense and who has the right chemistry and things like this. What this signing does is it gives our defense better balance.

“We like his experience. When he was younger, he played in Ottawa. At that point, he was playing against the other team’s top players. He played in the playoffs in Ottawa in their good run (reaching the 2017 Eastern Conference final against the Penguins). So he’s got that experience.”

Ceci also has the experience of being paired with Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson — acquired via trade in September — while helping Canada claim gold in the 2016 IIHF World Championship tournament.

“We did play together a little bit at that tournament,” Ceci said. “It will be nice to see him again. Maybe get a chance to play together again. We could be a pretty good (defensive) pair, so who knows?”

Through the lens of advanced analytics available to anyone with access to the Internet, Ceci had a poor 2019-20 season.

The Penguins maintain their own metrics, which are kept (and remain) in-house. Those figures are weighed in on any potential transaction. But they aren’t the ultimate deciding factor on any decision.

“You can’t just go off of analytics,” Rutherford said. “We use them. (Director of Hockey Research) Sam Ventura does a great job for us with it. But we use different checkpoints, and we have a very good hockey (operations department). People that have been around a long time that look at these players. That’s how we judge the players.”

Regardless of how Ceci is evaluated, his presence provides another option to a team that was forced to play 10 defensemen throughout the 2019-20 season, primarily because of injuries.

“We have other guys that can play,” Rutherford said. “(Zach) Trotman can play the right side. We like the way he plays. We like where (Pierre-Oliver) Joseph is at in his development. We like (Cam) Lee, the guy we signed out of (Western Michigan). So we have a group of guys now that we’re comfortable with.”

Following Ceci’s signing, the Penguins have $1,318,158 of salary cap space according to Cap Friendly. Rutherford prefers to maintain some space under the cap to make in-season maneuvers. Additionally, Ceci’s deal gives the Penguins 46 NHL contracts for the 2020-21 season, four below the NHL’s limit of 50.

Having made ample alternations to his team since it was dispatched from the postseason’s qualifying round in August, Rutherford suggested his renovations to the roster this offseason are likely completed.

“This is a place that we’re comfortable with right now,” Rutherford said.

Note: The Penguins re-signed restricted free agent forward Sam Miletic to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000. Selected to the American Hockey League’s All-Star Classic last season, Miletic, 23, appeared in 62 games and scored 34 points (nine goals, 23 assists) for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2019-20.

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