Brad Treliving appears willing to use his precious cap space to try to buy something his new team has never been able to earn on its own.
theathletic.com
There are two ways to look at the Maple Leafs signing Ryan Reaves to a three-year deal, after apparently making him one of their top priorities in free agency.
The first is that it’s a low-risk bet on a veteran who has a defined role and knows how to fill it. Reaves is as close as today’s NHL comes to an old-school enforcer, the guy who’s there to make sure the other team stays in line. He doesn’t have to fight to do that job, but he will, and opponents know it. The Maple Leafs have plenty of skill at the top of the lineup but they can be pushed around, and traditional hockey thinking says that means there needs to be some snarl at the bottom.
At three years and a $1.35 million cap hit, Reaves won’t crush the Leafs’ salary cap, especially as the ceiling rises over the next few years. And while he’s 36 years old, the skillset the Leafs are buying isn’t one that will diminish with age.
If it doesn’t work, he didn’t cost all that much. If it does work, he could be one of the most popular players in Toronto, the Tie Domi for a new era.
That’s the positive spin. Are you buying it?
My sense is that a lot of Leaf fans aren’t. Others are seeing that too. And that brings us to the second way of looking at this move.
That version starts like this: Ryan Reaves isn’t good. Aside from the intimidation factor, he doesn’t do enough to deserve a spot in a contending team’s lineup. And while he can fight, he doesn’t do it as often as you think. Maybe he doesn’t need to and that’s the whole point. But he can’t protect the Leafs stars from Matthew Tkachuk and Tom Wilson unless he’s on the ice with him, and he won’t be. When the playoffs arrive and the temperature goes up, is he going to scare anyone while he’s stapled to the bench?
Well, maybe. That’s the bet the Leafs are making. And they’re not the first because whatever else you think of Reaves’ numbers, he’s played a lot of playoff hockey over the years, for several teams. This isn’t a guy who gets banished to the press box as soon as the playoffs start.
He’s seen the second round, more than once, and that alone makes him an outlier on this Leafs team.