It appears Ottawa Senators defenceman Cody Ceci will be protected from the upcoming Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.

Led to believe Cody Ceci has been informed he will be protected. That means either Phaneuf or Methot could be on the move. #Sens — Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) June 17, 2017

The 23-year-old Ceci scored two goals and added 15 assists over 79 games with the Senators in 2016-17, his fourth year with the team. He added one assist over 19 playoff games as the Sens made it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Garrioch added that since Ceci is protected, either Dion Phaneuf or Marc Methot could of been on the move before Saturday's 3pm ET trade/waiver freeze.

Since the Sens weren't able to move Phaneuf, they'll be forced to protect him as he declined to waive his no-movement clause this week. As a result, Ottawa could lose the veteran Methot for nothing at the expansion draft on Wednesday.

Teams are allowed to only make trades with Vegas until Thursday at 8am ET, the morning after the expansion draft.