The Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves looks to be sidelined with a lower-body injury. It started as a harmless enough play, but Reaves caught a rut. As a result, expect the Leafs forward to miss some time.
Ryan Reaves had to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel after awkwardly colliding into the boards#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/KuYWSuL8jB
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 15, 2023
The Toronto Maples Leafs Will Be Without Tough Guy Ryan Reaves as He Has an Injury
Ryan Reaves is a 14-year NHL veteran with 848 games under his belt. He was brought into the Leafs lineup to provide toughness, especially for the physical nature of the playoffs. Furthermore, he has 1039 PIMs over the course of his career. Perhaps that total of penalty minutes is not as many as enforcers of years past. Conversely, Reaves has seemingly held the reign as heavyweight champ of the league for the past few years now. He has never had much of a scoring touch, and even less so at this stage of his career. He has primarily been focused on playing tough, and it has shown in his statistics. They have been quite poor this year, in 20 games, with an average time on ice of 7:37, he has a lone goal on the campaign.
What Does This Mean for the Leafs?
Even though it is yet to be determined whether Reaves can book his ticket to the infamous ‘Robidas Island.’ For the Leafs, depending how long Reaves is out, General Manager Brad Treliving and crew will have a decision to make. They will need to decide if they to replace his physical presence for the playoffs. Moreover, having brought in the likes of son of Tie, Max Domi, or nephew of Todd, Tyler Bertuzzi, along with Reaves, the Leafs tried to toughen up. Depending on how the lineup is playing, and how the defence stacks up physically, Treliving may or may not look for a trade deadline deal.
Main photo: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
