Ottawa 67’s defenseman Cody Ceci turned heads in 2011-12, ranking second amongst OHL blueliners with 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) in 64 games. Ceci ran the 67’s power play, scoring eight of his 17 goals while on the man-advantage. The 6’2”, 207-pound d-man helped lead the 67’s to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost to the Niagara Ice Dogs in five games. Islanders prospect Ryan Strome plays for Niagara, and summed up his team’s gameplan against Ottawa this way: “We tried to keep the puck out of his hands as much as we can, and take away his time and space.”

NewYorkIslanders.com had a chance to chat with the big defenseman expected to go early in the first round of this year’s draft.

NewYorkIslanders.com: Talk about your overall game, and what kind of player you are.

Cody Ceci: I’d say I’m a two-way defenseman. I like to get up in the rush, get the puck out of the zone and follow up on the play, as well as play against the top guys on other teams every night. I’ve got to do a good job playing defenseively at the same time, so I try to do a little bit of both.

NYI: You had a breakout season offensively. How do you feel about last season’s performance?

CC: I’m pretty happy with the way the whole season went this year, and there wasn’t much more I could do, so now I’ve just got to wait to see how the draft unfolds.

NYI: Speaking of which, what are your expectations for the NHL draft?

CC: I don’t know. I know there’s a lot that goes on during the draft, and you can go up or down in the rankings. It just depends how much a team likes you, and stuff like that. I’m just going to try to not be too disappointed if I go low, and just be excited if I go high. At the same time, I’ll have to take that as a learning opportunity and make the most of my opportunity wherever I go.

NYI: What things in your game do you want to work on, and what goals do you have for the future?

CC: I’d like to add a little bit more of a physical aspect to my game. I don’t play too physical, and I think I could, just because I’m a bigger guy. I think I could add that to my game. My goal for the future is just to get to the NHL as quick as possible and whenever the team that drafts me thinks I’m ready.