Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign F Ryan Reaves (3 years, $1.3M AAV)

[myleafs]

really? You don't notice he doesn't even backcheck?.....Can't really skate(takes a long time to get going)...But ok...He's basically a guy who can make big hits and fight(doesn't even have good ability to keep pucks in the other zone...he should be able to do it easily but he's just not that good at it). But ok enjoy the hits, fights and all the drama. Remember that none of these guys(Lafferty, Gregor, Reaves, and many others we got from other teams in last few years) are that good because if they were other teams would have kept them(some can play a decent bottom role though..Gregor for example)...Only bottom teams would get these players and it'd be an upgrade but instead we did(which is why we keep going out early every year).

Until i see this team winning games 2-0, , 2-1, 3-0, 3-1 and such, instead of 6-5, 7-5, etc, this is pretty much the same team as before with no ability to play d. The only things i like are Knies and this Minten kid might actually be a useful player for us. Everything else is around the same as before(although i'll have to see whether Domi and Bertuzzi are an upgrade...so far it's basically similar to what we lost).

Ive watched Reaves pretty closely. He isnt fast but big guys like him tend to look slower than they really are. He seems quite responsible with and without the puck. He is keeping his shifts short. he knows his lane and he is staying in it. He is laying big time hits which have a serious affect on the other teams and his teammates. He has not been any sort of drag on the team at all so far and has actually done much better than I expected. You also say bottom feeder teams would want a guy like him and yet the Wild tried to re-sign him no? and they are not a bottom feeder sooo?. Not sure why the hate and the already predetermined we suck attitude after 2 games...that we won, but whatever works for you.

 

[thewave]

Reaves will hopefully (and I think likely) be a healthy scratch come playoffs, so he will be useless in that regard.

Only if we are dumb. I hope we aren't dumb enough to not lead in heavy.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I do get it, these players have a role, I understand it, but it'd be nice if the player was above an AHL level.

Your whole argument is "trust me, he is effective"

Ryan Reaves played in the ECHL for 13 games in 2013. Since then he's never looked back. 6 or more General Managers believe that Reaves belongs in the NHL.

 

[notbias]

Ryan Reaves played in the ECHL for 13 games in 2013. Since then he's never looked back. 6 or more General Managers believe that Reaves belongs in the NHL.

and the last two think he is a borderline NHLer, he has been scratched a few times over the last few seasons.

 

[rumman]

Only if we are dumb. I hope we aren't dumb enough to not lead in heavy.

yup. a couple of clean thundering hits might just draw some much appreciated instigator penalties..........

 

[ACC1224]

Ryan Reaves played in the ECHL for 13 games in 2013. Since then he's never looked back. 6 or more General Managers believe that Reaves belongs in the NHL.

There is only one GM that matters, we all know this.

 

[notbias]

There is only one GM that matters, we all know this.

The GM that won last year? Agreed, he let Reaves go.

 

[Kurtz]

I do get it, these players have a role, I understand it, but it'd be nice if the player was above an AHL level.

Your whole argument is "trust me, he is effective"

You haven't presented an argument at all though, stats based or otherwise. Your whole premise is that his line has been outscored by 2 goals through 2 games so he's useless. You've made zero effort to compare his output vs other 4th liners in the league in any statistical category.

 

[thewave]

yup. a couple of clean thundering hits might just draw some much appreciated instigator penalties..........

For sure man 100%. As Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". That and punishing a team with hits also just lower their morale and resolve. Couple games of being scored on by the best Goal scorer in the league and crunched in the corners and suddenly you're not taking series in 7, you're winning them in 5-6.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Reaves looks good, Gregor looks good. What's the problem?

Reaves (outside of a couple fights) and the 4th line has not looked good. That's the problem. And this is probably the best Reaves will ever be.

Yes it makes Matthews better. As of today he just had back to back hattys. When did he do that to open a season under Dubas

Matthews had back to back hattys because he's healthy and shooting at 50%, not because of Reaves. And he's had good starts, hot streaks, and rockets under Dubas.

Nope its all different. Dubas preached about being soft and velvet glove new age hockey all day.

It's not different, and no, that's not what he preached at all.

Hooray, aren't you happy Matthews got 2 hattys to start a season?

Thrilled. Not as thrilled about needing that to win because other areas of the roster are lacking.

 

[myleafs]

Half our goals against are not because of our 4th line. It's because of 2 d man turning the puck over and Samsonov letting in 2 softies which I guess you could say 1 was a fluke goal. This tweet has made me laugh quite a bit seeing some of the replies or discussions/arguments from it where journalists actually think they can build a Cup winning team and try and say analytics people being hired by teams is the proof that they could.

very weird that that poster would use the goal that Brodie fell over himself at the blueline and Samsonov let in the breakaway as a negative measuring stick for the 4th line. They had possession in the offensive zone ffs. Shit happens but that clearly was not the 4th lines fault. Seems like a biased opinion rather than factual. FWIW I cant tell you how happy Ive been to see a leaf (Reaves) impose his physical will on the opposition. Gregor I like as well. Kampf?...doesnt seem to fit that line but I dont want him on the 3rd line either. Not sure whats gonna happen there.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I thought this board (Leafs) had a pact that we didn't overreact to a 2 game sample size. That we would analyze everything around the 20 game mark.

I am dying to hit the panic button with our 3rd line, but I'm trying as best as I can to stick to the pact.

Some people want to see Kampf traded now. Can you at least give him until the 20 game mark?

Treliving/Keefe have the benefit of the doubt at this point. A terrific start for our top 6 (tons of goals), 2 wins, and a lot questions with almost everything else (there's no doubt).

Honestly though. Let people praise Reaves. We're allowed to be praising Matthews surely. We're having fun right?

LOL, I wouldn't expect people to abide by that and had we lost that first game, people would be overreacting the other way.

Waiting until 20 games makes sense, and I wouldn't even read too much into things at that point. Wait until the 3rd round of the playoffs, if we're still playing at that point ...

Firstly, the Leafs haven't had a true legit heavyweight on the team in years,sure they've had washed up pugilists who in their prime could chuck em, the those days were well behind them. As to Reeves' presence, so far it seems to be working, the stars are lighting it up offensively, perhaps knowing Ryan's on the bench has given them a little more swagger?

This is exactly what I mean when I say we're hoping he brings something to the team that stats can't measure. IMO we won't know for sure what his impact is until the playoffs, but so far it looks like he's everything we were hoping he's be.

GLG!!

 

[thewave]

Reaves (outside of a couple fights) and the 4th line has not looked good. That's the problem. And this is probably the best Reaves will ever be.

I thought he looked fine

Matthews had back to back hattys because he's healthy and shooting at 50%, not because of Reaves. And he's had good starts, hot streaks, and rockets under Dubas.

Yeah but he gave Reaves the belt. I think it fires him up and I think he kind of made that statement by giving him the belt.

It's not different, and no, that's not what he preached at all.

He did preach NuHockey, it's on video. We can all watch it on YT. He practically said he was going to cut our teams nuts off.

Thrilled. Not as thrilled about needing that to win because other areas of the roster are lacking.

It looks great outside the D and G positions. Woll could be the G yet and the D is going to require a trade likely. It's early though and they could gel.

 

[myleafs]

Love Reeves
He is exactly what this team needed.
When he hits he hurts players
If you want to fight no problem .
Clifford and Simmons aren't Reeves

I dont understand how anyone who has watched this team for the past several yrs cant be happy with what Reaves is bringing to the table...(so far). Does not compute.

 

[ACC1224]

very weird that that poster would use the goal that Brodie fell over himself at the blueline and Samsonov let in the breakaway as a negative measuring stick for the 4th line. They had possession in the offensive zone ffs. Shit happens but that clearly was not the 4th lines fault. Seems like a biased opinion rather than factual. FWIW I cant tell you how happy Ive been to see a leaf (Reaves) impose his physical will on the opposition. Gregor I like as well. Kampf?...doesnt seem to fit that line but I dont want him on the 3rd line either. Not sure whats gonna happen there.

You think?

 

[Gary Nylund]

very weird that that poster would use the goal that Brodie fell over himself at the blueline and Samsonov let in the breakaway as a negative measuring stick for the 4th line. They had possession in the offensive zone ffs. Shit happens but that clearly was not the 4th lines fault. Seems like a biased opinion rather than factual. FWIW I cant tell you how happy Ive been to see a leaf (Reaves) impose his physical will on the opposition. Gregor I like as well. Kampf?...doesnt seem to fit that line but I dont want him on the 3rd line either. Not sure whats gonna happen there.

LMAO that is indeed hilarious. What was that famous quote again? IIRC it was something like there are liars, damn liars and then there are statistics.

 

[Legion34]

We're talking about the amount of his contract that can be buried. It is 85% of his contract.

They couldn't have both without losing somebody else like Timmins. Which would still be forcing the loss of a better player.

Whether or not that's true, it's irrelevant, because all 3 could be on the team without Reaves.

Reaves was handed Lafferty's 4th line job, and he's the one that costs the amount that necessitated the move, not Gregor.

Reaves being on the team doesn't make Matthews better. Matthews not being injured and being on a hot streak makes Matthews better.

We've had tons of vocal locker room players in the past.
We've had open ice hitters too. In fact, even with Reaves here and the best he'll be on his contract, McCabe is still probably our best open ice hitter.
The main benefit Reaves has had going for him in terms of physical deployment is that he doesn't have the Leaf target on his back yet. A couple of the hits he's given out so far would have been called for past players, and will probably be called in the future. I expect it won't be long until he's given the Simmonds treatment - pulled out of fights before they start, and singled out of scrums for existing. It's a little early to be claiming that Reaves won't take too many penalties.

The past guys you criticized were given belts and compliments too.

Minnesota literally scored a minute later lol.

You are choosing to talk about the wrong thing. That’s an odd choice.

What is relevant is the amount of cap that would be taken up after burying him. Multiple people talked about burying the contract

His remaining cap would be .2% of the cap today

Timmins is on LTIR. Lafferty did not have to be moved when he was. And it wasn’t about reeves. The leafs under dubas were over the cap multiple times and had to waive players or were saved by injuries.

They easily could have had both on the roster today. Just like dubas did

 

[rumman]

LOL, I wouldn't expect people to abide by that and had we lost that first game, people would be overreacting the other way.

Waiting until 20 games makes sense, and I wouldn't even read too much into things at that point. Wait until the 3rd round of the playoffs, if we're still playing at that point ...


This is exactly what I mean when I say we're hoping he brings something to the team that stats can't measure. IMO we won't know for sure what his impact is until the playoffs, but so far it looks like he's everything we were hoping he's be.

GLG!!

I'll bet 99 slept like a baby knowing Semenko was his wing man...........

 

[notbias]

You haven't presented an argument at all though, stats based or otherwise. Your whole premise is that his line has been outscored by 2 goals through 2 games so he's useless. You've made zero effort to compare his output vs other 4th liners in the league in any statistical category.

No one has presented an argument as to why he is good.

Hitting and fighting don't put the puck into the back of the net.

I will just use a play driving stat since +/- is dumb and I'll use 100 mins as a line together as a cut-off.

Reaves appeared two times in 2022-2023 32nd worst (43.7%) and 46th worst (45.5%).

Reaves appeared three times in 2021-2022 5th worst (34.1%), 12th worst (37.2%), and 98th worst (51.4%).

Reaves appeared once in 2020-2021 46th worst (50%).

Currently (too small of a sample) but the line of Gregor/Kampf/Reaves is 17th (30.4%).

Some of these numbers are terrible and it just means his line is a liability while on the ice.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I thought he looked fine
Yeah but he gave Reaves the belt. I think it fires him up and I think he kind of made that statement by giving him the belt.
He did preach NuHockey, it's on video. We can all watch it on YT. He practically said he was going to cut our teams nuts off.
It looks great outside the D and G positions. Woll could be the G yet and the D is going to require a trade likely. It's early though and they could gel.

The 4th line's been drowning. Players that fight often get the belt, just like the fighters over the past number of years did. It's more about respecting the action than the impact it has. Not sure what you think "nuhockey" is, but your representation of Dubas, his beliefs, and how he operated is flat out wrong.

It's still very early, and hopefully the team gels and figures things out more, but we've been pretty exclusively carried by our stars so far. There are legitimate concerns about pretty much everything else, and the struggles are pretty consistent with what the concerns were expected to be after the offseason moves.

 

[myleafs]

No, he is just not good and old.

You win by scoring more goals than the other team, and people want to win.

People who like the Reaves signing tend to be old and think hockey is played like it was in the 80s.

We've had goons every year, Reaves is not new.

Having said that, he has been fine so far, and I hope he keeps it up.



It was always that the best lineup didn't involve Reaves, it had Lafferty over him.

Lafferty is also much better than he showed here, but ya, I guess after a while you need to ship him out if it isn't working.

I can be pretty cynical but you win....sheesh. How anyone cant like what they have seen from Reaves and the impact he has through the roster in the first 2 games is just not watching or listening. But I suspect you know that already and are just throwing stuff against the walls for a reaction. Calling people old because they like what Reaves brings? lol ok.

 

[Stephen]

Yes, my comment was about lines producing more than they get scored on, which Reaves is very bad at.

That is how you win.

I don't care about his individual production if when he is on the ice he is not a liability and the team plays close to 50% goal differential

The value of Ryan Reaves isn’t going to boil down to the offense he generates but more so the energy levels and comfort of those ahead of him in the lineup, although obviously it’s important for the 4th line to find some traction.

But if you think the difference between success and failure of the program down to the difference between Sam Lafferty and Ryan Reaves go ahead.

 

[myleafs]

Mitch Marner used rather vivid imagery to describe what the Toronto Maple Leafs' new forward additions - Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi - bring to the lineup.

"All three of those guys can play with snot, piss, and vinegar," Marner said Thursday, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox, before praising new general manager Brad Treliving for the signings.

"So, I think he's done a good job of what he said that he wants to bring in - and he's done it ... (They're) three guys that aren't afraid to get in people's faces and down and dirty, and at the same time bring a lot of pace to our game, can do a lot of things around the net, (and) add a lot of different qualities to your team. "And they all have that grittiness. Obviously, what Ryan does, it's going to make people not really want to get down and dirty too much with our team."

Yea but remember random posters know more than the players on the team that play with him....duh

 

[notbias]

The value of Ryan Reaves isn’t going to boil down to the offense he generates but more so the energy levels and comfort of those ahead of him in the lineup, although obviously it’s important for the 4th line to find some traction.

But if you think the difference between success and failure of the program down to the difference between Sam Lafferty and Ryan Reaves go ahead.

I don't think that is the difference, but I want the best team.

Vegas had an amazing 4th line last year, they contributed to their win.

They are also a team that thought Reaves was not good enough.

Yea but remember random posters know more than the players on the team that play with him....duh

The winning GM cut him, he knows more than the rest of the league and you it appears.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

No, he is just not good and old.

You win by scoring more goals than the other team, and people want to win.

People who like the Reaves signing tend to be old and think hockey is played like it was in the 80s.

We've had goons every year, Reaves is not new.

Having said that, he has been fine so far, and I hope he keeps it up.



It was always that the best lineup didn't involve Reaves, it had Lafferty over him.

Lafferty is also much better than he showed here, but ya, I guess after a while you need to ship him out if it isn't working.

Sometimes I wonder who hates this team more - the mainboard or some of the people here.

I work with a guy that is not great at his job, but the morale he brings to the team and the energy is palpable and definitely helps the team perform better than just another guy with slightly better skills. This stuff matters. No one is saying go back to 80s hockey.

Reaves at 1m will not make or break this team. Personally, I like the swagger he brings. I like how he draws attention. I like that we no longer have to worry about runs at AM late in winning games.

Just enjoy the entertaining hockey, it's going to be a fun season.