During the 2023 offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed free agent Ryan Reaves to a three-year, $4.05 million deal to provide some added toughness and leadership to their lineup.
After getting roughed up by the Florida Panthers during the second round of the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs felt that they needed to add more grit and snarl to their lineup to ensure that their players don’t get pushed around that easily anymore.
In addition, Reaves had shown in the past that he could provide some supplementary scoring as well, as just last season, he put up five goals and 15 points after joining the Minnesota Wild for the final 61 games of NHL season.
As a result, he was expected to make a difference both on the ice, and at times, on the scoreboard as well for the Leafs this season.
Will Ryan Reaves See Another Game with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Reaves has been a total disaster so far in his tenure with the blue and white. Already given minimal ice time each game (averaging less than eight minutes a game), Reaves has managed to make the Leafs worse off than providing any help to them at all whenever he took the ice with the fourth line.
At 5-on-5, the Leafs have given up a whopping 11 goals while scoring zero themselves whenever Reaves found his way on the ice. With a CF% of 41% and an expected goals rate of 35%, he has been costing the team way too much by tilting the ice towards the opposition one too many times. (All stats from naturalstattrick.com)
Coincidentally, when the Leafs finally decided to make Reaves a healthy scratch for the past game against the red-hot Vancouver Canucks, the fourth line would come out with their best game of the season.
Together, they put up two goals and five points against one of the best goalies in the business in Thatcher Demko, who entered the game with a sub-1.70 GAA.
Not only that, led by Bobby McMann, who took Reaves spot in the lineup, the line looked dangerous all night and was no longer outplayed by the opposition.
So will Reaves ever see another game with the Leafs this season? Most likely, but definitely not until the newly formed fourth line begins to lose their effectiveness. After all, things will get rougher as the season rolls along and at the time, Reaves’ proven toughness could eventually help make life miserable for the opponent.
In addition, general manager Brad Treliving will want to make sure that one of his key additions this past offseason can have the opportunity to still show his worth. But one thing is for sure, he will definitely need to get his game going soon, or else his stay in the press box may turn out to be much longer than expected.