Barrie and Ceci informed by Leafs that neither will be offered an extension

In a not-so-surprising move, the Toronto Maple Leafs have informed Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci on Wednesday that it is their intention not to tender an offer to either of the blueliners, effectively sending the pair to the free agent market on Oct 9th.

Though Ceci, who came over to Toronto from division rival, the Ottawa Senators, was more likely to arrive at this point, there were some small circles who thought that perhaps Barrie would consider the option of remaining in Toronto, especially given his sharp increase in production when new head coach Sheldon Keefe took over for grizzled vet Mike Babcock, who never really favored Barrie in Toronto.

With the market in rather uncertain territory heading into this offseason, it's really anyone's guess what teams will be willing to spend on either of these players, given the financial impact that COVID-19 has had on teams - some of whom have been forced by ownership to set internal caps - but one has to imagine that the right-shooting defensemen will be in the enviable position of being desired commodities, with a large portion of the available blueliners being of a left-handed variety.

The BC native Tyson Barrie could find a home out West, in Vancouver, with the probable departure of Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev.

Barrie suited up in each of the Leafs' 70 games this season, recording 39 points, while Ceci had just 8 points in 56 games for the Buds in 2019-20.

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