Goals and Expectations in Toronto: Ryan Reaves
This is the first in a series of articles looking at both the expectations and goals of individual players with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. Today we start with the first UFA signing of Brad Treliving's tenure as Leafs GM: Ryan Reaves. Singed to a 3 year deal carrying a $1.35M cap hit, Reaves' best work probably won't show up in the stats columns, unless you're looking at fighting majors and PIMs.
The expectation for Reaves is simple at first glance, but there's more to his role than just punching faces. Yes, being a physical presence will be the majority of what is asked of him on the ice, but off of it, Reaves is expected to aid in creating more of a family dynamic in the team.
As far as goals go, Reaves main one should be ensuring the safety of his teammates when they play against those teams who like to take liberties with the Leafs' top end talent. You can be sure that Ben Chiarot won't be rag-dolling Auston Matthews by the collar with #75 sitting on the bench.
It would be nice to see Reaves end up somewhere near his career highs of 9 goals and 20 points, but I'd settle for seeing him beat the snot out of Sam Bennett at some point this season. Reaves' job isn't overly complicated, but it's an important one, especially come playoff time. The Leafs should be at or very near the top of the Eastern Conference this season. The contributions of a player like Reaves could be the difference between another early exit and a deep run come playoff time.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 11 | 238 ANSWERS Goals and Expectations in Toronto: Ryan Reaves Will Ryan Reaves score over or under 10 goals this season? | ||
| Under | 121 | 50.8 % |
| Over | 73 | 30.7 % |
| I just want to see him beat people up | 39 | 16.4 % |
| See results | 5 | 2.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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