It’s hard to remember the last time a player made this much noise as they headed out of town. We might have expected it from forward Mitch Marner, given the unfortunate ending to his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, despite several great years together. Instead, it’s Ryan Reaves causing a fuss.
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Reaves, who managed a combined eight points with the Maple Leafs and spent part of the 2024-25 campaign in the American Hockey League (AHL), hasn’t been shy about vocalizing his frustration with his former team. The 38-year-old enforcer still had trade value and was dealt to the San Jose Sharks for defenceman Henry Thrun earlier this month.
Reaves Not Happy
From the beginning, the Maple Leafs’ decision to sign Reaves didn’t make sense. It seemed that general manager (GM) Brad Treliving wanted to add some muscle to the lineup and signed the enforcer to a three-year deal before the 2023-24 season. To no one’s surprise, Reaves didn’t finish out his contract in Toronto.
In two seasons with the Maple Leafs, Reaves suited up for 49 games and 35 games, respectively. He missed some time due to injury, but he was also made a healthy scratch and has voiced his frustration about it.
“I think there was just a lack of trust very early in the season,” Reaves said, likely referring to his former head coach Craig Berube. “I had one bad game, I was out of the lineup for four, five, six, seven, eight, nine games. I’d come back in and have a good game, but taken right back out. I just couldn’t ever gain any momentum with my game. Couldn’t really gain any traction. It’s hard to play like that, it’s hard to play when you’re only playing every five or six games.”
Reaves has mentioned his frustration to any media source that will listen, although most Maple Leafs fans have ignored his comments. What they haven’t ignored is his comments about Marner. Reaves made some comments that seemed to suggest he sold Marner on the Vegas Golden Knights. Reaves, of course, played in Vegas for parts of four seasons from 2017 to 2021.
He mentioned on The Cam & Strick Podcast that he explained to Marner that Vegas is a great market to play in and that there is much less media pressure to deal with than in Toronto. Fans have suggested that Reaves did this out of bitterness for the Maple Leafs organization, although he has denied the accusation.
“Mitchy was hitting free agency. I think that was pretty public knowledge,” Reaves told Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Leafs Morning Take. “I’m very close with Mitchy … He asked me my opinion about Vegas. I played there for four years. I live here all summer because I love the city. What do you want me to do? You want me to lie to him because I’m still technically signed with Toronto? That’s my boy. I’m not gonna steer him wrong.”
Time for Reaves to Move On
In Reaves’ defence, there’s nothing wrong with telling Marner that Vegas is a great place to play. As he put it, he’s not going to lie to his friend, and everyone knew the chances of Marner returning to Toronto were slim, regardless of what Reaves told him.
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That said, Reaves needs to quit talking to the press about his time in Toronto and move on. He isn’t the first player to have a bitter departure from an organization, and he won’t be the last. That said, few have voiced their frustrations as often as he has in such a short time. Instead of complaining about his former team, he should be relishing the fact that the Sharks were willing to bring him on board and focus on staying in the lineup this season.
