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Ryan Reaves

Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves Suspended Five Games

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3:04 p.m.: The league’s Department of Player Safety announced a five-game suspension for Reaves.

9:04 a.m.: The NHL has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves will have a player safety hearing for his illegal hit on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse in last night’s 4-3 overtime win. Reaves was assessed a match penalty and a game misconduct on the play after his shoulder caught Nurse in the head as the Oilers defenseman circled behind his own net with the puck. It’s a phone hearing, not an in-person one, so his pending suspension won’t last more than five games.

Nurse hit the ice hard after the hit and appeared stunned as he looked around. Blood began to pour from a sizeable cut on Nurse’s head as the Oilers training staff attended to him. He remained on the ice for a few moments before he was assisted off the ice. The hit occurred at the 2:41 mark of the second period, leaving the crowd in silence as Nurse left the game and did not return. Reaves was escorted off the ice and had a heated verbal exchange with Oilers captain Connor McDavid before he exited the game.

The league has an interesting decision to make with regard to Reaves, the initial point of contact on the hit is Nurse’s head and it would meet the definition of a blindside hit. The Department of Player Safety will consider an illegal check to the head suspension but does retain the right to change course when they review the infraction.

Reaves does have a history of supplemental discipline during his career, having last been suspended during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs while he was a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. Reaves caught a two-game suspension for roughing and was also suspended one game during the 2020 postseason for an illegal hit to the head against Tyler Motte of the Vancouver Canucks. Reaves was also suspended three games back in 2016 for boarding.

As for Nurse, his status has yet to be updated, but he is out right now with an upper-body injury. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweeted that he’s heard from Oilers play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels that Nurse was joking with the team’s trainers and walking around after the game, which is certainly encouraging.

Injury Notes: Larkin, Reaves, Blackwell

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In a positive report for the Detroit Red Wings organization, captain Dylan Larkin was back at practice this morning as a full participant (X Link). It is undetermined whether or not Larkin will be available in the team’s important game tomorrow night against the New York Islanders.

Working his way back from a lower-body injury suffered on March 2nd, the team as a whole as certainly looked different without their captain in the mix. Since Larkin’s exit after the game against the Florida Panthers, the team has produced a 2-6-0 record, coupled with a pedestrian 2.5 GF/G.

With only 13 games remaining in the regular season for Detroit, they will be hoping that Larkin’s return to the lineup will bring an added boost to the rest of the roster. Amid a battle for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the Red Wings are looking to break a seven-year playoff drought by the end of the season.

Other injury notes:

  • David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves will miss tonight’s game due to an eye injury. The injury was suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers and was likely due to Reaves’ fight against Flyers grinder Nicolas Deslauriers. In Reaves’ absence, depth forward Noah Gregor will draw into the lineup after not having played since March 16th.
  • Sticking with the Original Six theme, the Chicago Blackhawks have some injury concerns as well, as Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that forward Colin Blackwell is out with an upper-body injury. Without much to play for down the final stretch of the season, it is still unfortunate news for the organization. Over the team’s last five games, Blackwell has been on a solid streak, scoring three goals and four points, with all three of those goals coming in a game against the Arizona Coyotes.

Atlantic Notes: Reaves, Bertuzzi, Johnson, Rafferty, Cernak

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In preparation for the team’s high-profile game against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night, the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs will look a bit different. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that the team has activated forward Ryan Reaves off of the injured reserve while designating forward Tyler Bertuzzi as a non-roster player as he prepares for the birth of a child.

With Bertuzzi not expected to miss a significant amount of time with the birth of his child, the lineup change will be short-lived. Suffice it to say, after having acquired both forwards in the offseason as unrestricted free agents, the Maple Leafs have not gotten a particularly good return on investment in either player.

Having been out for a little over a month with a lower-body injury, Reaves has scored one goal in 21 games for Toronto so far this year and still carries a team-worst -11 rating on the year after signing a three-year, $4.05MM contract with the Maple Leafs in July. Comparatively, as the highest-paid forward beyond the ’Big Four’ in Toronto, Bertuzzi has managed only six goals in 45 games played, on pace for his lowest-goal total in his career throughout a full season.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports reports that Buffalo Sabres’ defenseman Erik Johnson will be out of the lineup both today and tomorrow. Although he would be eligible to return Saturday against the San Jose Sharks, Harrington points out that Johnson is only considered a possibility for that game, as the team may keep him out until after the All-Star break. Brought over in the offseason to shore up the right side of the team’s defense, Johnson has scored three goals for Buffalo this season while averaging the lowest total ice time of his career.
  • Prior to the team’s game tonight against the Dallas Stars, the Detroit Red Wings announced they had recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. This being his third recall of the year, Rafferty has yet to play in a game for the Red Wings although he already has two goals and 15 points for the Griffins this season.
  • Not included in the team’s game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, Erik Cernak has returned to practice for the Tampa Bay Lightning (X Link). Cernak has been out of the lineup since January 11th with an upper-body injury but could make his return before the All-Star break. In 39 games for the Lightning this season, Cernak has managed to tally five assists while averaging a touch over 19 minutes of ice time a night.

Atlantic Notes: Reaves, Rafferty, Lightning

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Maple Leafs winger Ryan Reaves has been on injured reserve for more than a month now with a knee injury.  However, he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he has been ready to return for a couple of weeks and he has simply been scratched for that time.  The 37-year-old is in the first season of a three-year, $4.05MM contract signed back in July and things haven’t gone as planned with the veteran struggling when he was in the lineup to the point of being healthy scratched at times before the injury.  Reaves noted that he’ll need to “stay patient to get in the lineup — or stay patient for whatever else is going to come” but clearly, his comments suggest that patience is starting to wear a little thin if he has indeed been ready to come back for the last two weeks.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Before their game against Tampa Bay, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from AHL Grand Rapids. It’s the second recall of the month for the 28-year-old although he didn’t see any NHL action in his first stint and barring injuries, it’s unlikely he’ll suit up much if at all this time around.  Rafferty is in his first season with Detroit’s farm team after signing a two-year, two-way contract back in July.  In 35 games so far with the Griffins, he has 15 points.
  • The only injured Lightning player who could return before the All-Star break is defenseman Erik Cernak, relays Eduardo A. Encina of The Athletic (Twitter link). Cernak has missed a little more than a week with an upper-body injury but it appears he has a chance to come back in their final three games.  Meanwhile, Encina adds that winger Tanner Jeannot remains listed as week-to-week while blueliners Mikhail Sergachev and Haydn Fleury – both currently on LTIR – could return after the break.

Devils Offered Tomáš Tatar A One Year Contract

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Colorado Avalanche forward Tomáš Tatar lingered in free agency peril for most of the summer before he finally signed a one-year deal with the team for $1.5MM. However, he recently told the Boris a Brambor Podcast that the New Jersey Devils had offered him a one-year contract earlier in the offseason.

When discussing the one-year offer from the Devils, Tatar said he wanted more term from the Devils when they made their offer, but only realized later in free agency that a multi-year deal wasn’t possible. By the time he’d changed his mind, the Devils had already acquired forward Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames, making his return to New Jersey improbable.

Given Tatar’s timeline of events, it seems likely the Devils made their offer prior to June 27th when Toffoli was dealt to New Jersey. It’s hard to fault Tatar for thinking he could get a multi-year deal as he was coming off a good season in which he scored 20 goals and 28 assists in 82 games. His run-in free agency was one of the more puzzling things that happened this summer in hockey as he didn’t come close to getting the contract that many pundits predicted he would. The Athletic had Tatar projected to receive a three-year contract with an average annual value of $3.9MM but the flat cap and an underwhelming playoff hurt his earning potential.

Tatar’s situation is not unlike that of Evan Rodrigues last summer, he also signed with Colorado on a one-year deal after lingering in free agency for quite a while. Rodrigues signed a four-year $12MM contract this year with the Florida Panthers, something that Tatar could mimic next summer if he has another good year.

Free agency is often a guessing game, and it is sometimes hard to project who will take a one-year deal and who can get term. Many people were blindsided by which players received term on their new deals (Ryan Reaves) and which players took one-year deals (Jason Zucker). But with the flat cap, free agency has become harder than ever as evidenced by a useful middle six forward like Tatar going more than two months unsigned.

Maple Leafs Expected To Sign Ryan Reaves

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It appears that the Maple Leafs will be adding some toughness to their roster once the UFA market opens up in less than three hours.  Last night, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported (Twitter link) that Toronto will be signing rugged winger Ryan Reaves to a multi-year contract.  Today, TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (Twitter link) that the AAV for that deal should be around $1.3MM and that it remains to be seen if it will be a two-year agreement or a three-year one.

The 36-year-old started the season with the Rangers but asked to be moved early on after having a very limited role in New York.  He got his wish and was moved to Minnesota in late November, becoming a regular in the lineup for the Wild for the rest of the way.  Reaves was relatively productive in his role, collecting five goals and ten assists in 61 contests with his new team; his 15 points matched the second-best point total of his career.

Of course, Toronto isn’t bringing in Reaves for his point-producing ability.  He has been one of the more physical wingers in the league for more than a decade and while he doesn’t drop the gloves often anymore, that ability remains part of his game.  New GM Brad Treliving evidently would like to see his club get a little more physical up front and bringing in Reaves will certainly help to make his fourth line that much tougher.

West Notes: Blackwood, Reaves, Shaw

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In a somewhat surprising move, the San Jose Sharks opted not to qualify goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood today, just days after acquiring his rights from the New Jersey Devils for a 2024 sixth-round pick. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Sharks and Blackwood were not close in their brief contract discussion prior to today’s qualifying deadline. Discussions between the two parties remain ongoing, but the 26-year-old netminder could absolutely land with another NHL team after the market opens Saturday.

The Devils moved on from Blackwood with better options available internally. He was due a rather rich qualifying offer of $3.36MM, a number he won’t come close to on the open market after his performance last season. The Sharks would surely like to keep him – after all, they do have a vacant spot in their goalie tandem with James Reimer not returning – but it doesn’t seem they’re prepared to pay over market value to keep him around and would rather have just thrown away the draft pick.

Some other Western Conference tidbits as free agency looms:

  • As expected, Minnesota Wild enforcer Ryan Reaves will hit the free agent market tomorrow, as confirmed by his agent, Kevin Epp. With essentially no cap space to speak of, Minnesota doesn’t have the luxury of spending on a player who’s main impact is felt in the locker room and before trips to the penalty box. Reaves did record a respectable five goals and 15 points last season, though, his most in three seasons. He’s expected to command some interest – namely from the Toronto Maple Leafs, says The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.
  • Another player who won’t be re-signing in Minnesota, at least for now, is forward Mason Shaw, who was also not issued a qualifying offer today. Shaw suffered the fourth ACL tear of his career this season, putting his long-term playing future in extreme jeopardy, and The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes the team won’t be making the decision to re-sign him until he’s completed his rehab. The team would like to extend a contract offer to him in the meantime, but with their limited cap flexibility, it’s not a feasible gesture. He is free to sign if another NHL team comes calling before he completes his recovery.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, DeBrincat, Reaves, Reinbacher

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Although numerous insiders have spoken about their confidence that the Toronto Maple Leafs will end up re-signing Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews, it doesn’t appear a deal is imminent according to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. Pagnotta says “a deal is not yet close,” and adds “his next deal will be 3, 4, or 5-year” term.

Matthews would be a league-altering free agent if he were to hit the open market, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to get there. It’s something of a surprise that the Matthews won’t be locked down to a longer term, but going on a shorter deal allows him to take another bite of the apple down the road to secure another massive deal in his late 20s.

Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion told The Athletic’s Ian Mendes that they “are not close” to an Alex DeBrincat trade. Many had assumed that the Senators would push to make a trade before the 2023 NHL draft in order to potentially add a first-round pick for Ottawa to be used in tonight’s first round. But Ottawa’s reluctance to give other teams permission to negotiate a contract extension with DeBrincat has likely slowed the trade negotiations, meaning we’re unlikely to see a DeBrincat deal in the near future.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports today that the Toronto Maple Leafs are “looking to beef up their bottom six,” and specifically connects two names to the team: Ryan Reaves and Austin Watson. Neither Reaves or Watson offer much on the ice outside of their physical play, but given the perception among many that Toronto didn’t put up enough of a fight in recent playoff series that might be exactly what the team needs.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have been eager to give recent top selections every chance to make their NHL roster in the fall after their selection, but that may not be possible with David Reinbacher. The Austrian defenseman told the media after the draft, including Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, that he has one more year of business to take care of before joining the Canadiens organization in North America. Reinbacher played in the Swiss National League in his draft season and could return to EHC Kloten for another year, or he could move to another team in Europe.

Wild Notes: Rossi, Goligoski, Gustavsson, Reaves

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The Minnesota Wild’s number-one priority as an organization seems to be finally finding the a true number-one center to build around. When he was drafted with the ninth-overall pick at the 2020 draft, it was believed that Austrian center Marco Rossi had a shot at being that long-awaited franchise-altering pivot. Significant health issues altered the trajectory of Rossi’s development early in his time as a Wild prospect, and while he has been an exceptionally productive player in the AHL (104 points in 116 career games) the soon-to-be 22-year-old hasn’t managed to seize the moment in the NHL with Minnesota.

While he’s still undoubtedly someone the Wild are hoping pans out, the Athletic’s Joe Smith reported today that he believes the Wild would “be open to moving Rossi if the right deal came up,” such as one with a 2023 first-round pick as compensation. (subscription link) The Kirby Dach trade that was made at last year’s draft could serve as a template for this kind of deal, with the Canadiens surrendering a draft pick in order to acquire a high-upside center whose development had been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Given how significant Dach’s developmental turnaround was under Martin St. Louis in Montreal, it seems possible that an organization confident in its player development abilities might be willing to part with a first-round pick in order to acquire Rossi. Acquiring Rossi could afford a team a quicker turnaround to NHL relevance than developing a brand-new draft pick, so perhaps a team looking to speed up its rebuild or quickly inject some cost-controlled young talent into its roster could be a fit as well.

Some other notes regarding the Wild:

  • Smith’s article touched on quite a few players of interest to this Minnesota offseason, including 1042-game veteran blueliner Alex Goligoski. Smith reports that Goligoski’s preference is to remain in Minnesota for the final year of his contract, but that his $2MM cap hit combined with the Wild’s significant salary cap constraints could complicate things. Goligoski has a full no-movement clause on his contract so he can control his playing future, but after spending much of last season as a healthy scratch one wonders if he’d sanction a move away from Minnesota simply to re-gain a regular spot in an NHL lineup.
  • Perhaps the most significant player the Wild will need to negotiate with this summer is netminder Filip Gustavsson, who had a stellar season. Gustavsson is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent and Smith writes that his next contract “will end up falling into one of three categories: a one-year deal, a three-year deal or a one-year arbitration award.” With top prospect Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings, it makes sense that the Wild might not want to invest long-term in Gustavsson, but should the 25-year-old manage to even come close his numbers from this past season in 2023-24 only locking him down for one season could end up a costly mistake.
  • The Wild’s mid-season trade acquisition of enforcer Ryan Reaves injected some much-needed energy and life onto their roster, and he scored 15 points in 61 games helping the team reach the playoffs once again. Smith writes that Reaves, now 36, would like to return to the Wild but is prioritizing maximizing the financial value of his next contract, a deal that could very well end up his last major free-agent cash-in. Reaves reportedly is seeking term on his next deal longer than just one year, so since the Wild are set to be paying nearly $15MM in dead money due to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, it very well could be that re-signing Reaves is a luxury they cannot afford.

Wild Notes: Gustavsson, Reaves, Goligoski

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This is an offseason full of questions for the Minnesota Wild. A team perenially on the verge of taking the next step has now lost seven straight playoff series, and they enter the 2023-24 landscape with only $8.23MM in projected cap space and multiple players to sign.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin spoke with The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith on the unique challenges brought in by their cap situation and commented on the futures of multiple players, including breakout netminder Filip Gustavsson. The 24-year-old Swede will undoubtedly receive some Vezina Trophy votes after posting a .931 save percentage in 37 starts, but he’s also a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. Guerin told Russo and Smith “there’s always challenges” when it comes to locking in contracts on a team without much maneuverability, but said talks with Gustavsson would start “very, very soon” and he’s confident they’ll reach an agreement.

Other notes from Guerin’s interview with Russo and Smith:

  • Guerin highlighted Ryan Reaves as one of the unrestricted free agents he’s focused on retaining this summer. After an early-season trade from the New York Rangers, Guerin said he was impressed with Reaves’ on-ice and off-ice presence, viewing him as integral to the team’s locker room chemistry. Reaves scored 15 points in 61 games this season with Minnesota, his highest scoring total since the 2019-20 season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He’ll need to take a discount on his previous $1.75MM cap hit to stay in a Wild uniform.
  • One player who’s not a pending free agent is defenseman Alex Goligoski, but Guerin said he’ll still sit down and have a talk with the veteran defenseman about his future. Locked in through next season with a no-movement clause and a $2MM cap hit, Goligoski, 37, oftentimes found himself as a healthy scratch this season, including in all six playoff games. If he’d be open to a trade somewhere else for more playing time in likely his last NHL season, it would free up some much-needed cap space for the Wild.

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