*Photo from the Hockey Writers*
If you need an enforcer, Toronto took one off the market. The Toronto Maple Leafs and RW Ryan Reaves have agreed to a 3 year, $4.05 million contract, according to NHL Network's David Pagnotta. The Maple Leafs have confirmed the signing.
The contract for Reaves runs through the end of the 2025-2026 season, with no incentives or trade protections attached. He gets a $1.35 million AAV over all 3 years, with the Maple Leafs set to be his 4th team in 4 years.
Over the course of Reaves's 13 seasons in the NHL, he has played for 5 different teams. Since his debut, he has accumulated 59 goals and 70 assists for 129 points. He's averaged 8:51 of ice time in a 4th line role while posting a -34 rating in 828 regular season games. Reaves also has 3 goals and 5 assists to go with a +2 rating in 108 playoff games.
Joining the Maple Leafs, Reaves has a chance to win a Stanley Cup. He got to the Final in 2017-2018 with the Vegas Golden Knights and the conference finals in 2021-2022 with the New York Rangers, along with 2019-2020 with Vegas. In Toronto, Reaves is looking to get over the hump.
Reaves said that "At 36 I don't have a Cup yet. I just really want to win. That's really the only thing on my mind right now. So you know, obviously money is always somewhat important but right now winning's a little more important to me. And you know, for me, Toronto, they got over that first-round hump last year, and I think that was such a big weight off their shoulders. Maybe a little overly emotional, because it just took so long to happen that maybe too many emotions ran into the second round. So to me, they're trending in the right direction. Obviously, a lot of star power. A team that I think can win in the next couple of years, can win this year, can win in the next three years. So that was basically my decision. I wanted to go to a contender and I, and I think Toronto is a contender."
Last season, Reaves played for both the Rangers and Minnesota Wild after a in-season trade. He scored 5 goals and added 10 assists, averaging 9:19 of ice time per game while posting a -6 rating in 73 games. He went without a point in 6 playoff games.
Reaves is one of the few true enforcers left in the NHL. He never hesitates to drop the gloves and always brings physicality to the game, as evidenced by 2,797 hits in the regular season and another 436 in the playoffs.
This offseason, the Maple Leafs have lost Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, Noel Acciari, Justin Holl, Michael Bunting, and Alex Kerfoot in free agency, with goalie Ilya Samsonov also due a new contract as an RFA.
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