Montreal Canadiens: Ryan Reaves, Mike Brown, and the Rebuild Enforcers

Good Teams Should Be Using Good Players, Not Enforcers

With top prospect Nick Robertson chomping at the bit to get ice time with the Leafs and with a potential trade seemingly on the cards, it’s utterly baffling as to why Toronto continues to play Reaves when it’s clear he doesn’t belong in the NHL anymore.

Is he still the NHL’s best fighter? I mean, sure, fine, whatever, but when he’s only fighting two times every two months, does it really matter? Most players are afraid to drop the gloves with him, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing to beat on Matthews and Marner while he just silently chirps from the bench. What about the playoffs then, I hear you ask?

Well, if you seriously think Reaves is going to be a factor, let alone play in the playoffs, then I’d suggest you stay away from the endless barrage of sports betting apps we’re frequented with every intermission of every game (but that’s an entirely different can of worms).

At the end of the day, there is a place for a player of Reaves type in this league, but it’s on a team that the Leafs clearly aren’t at this stage, and Reaves doesn’t have the qualities that make those players useful to a rebuilding team to begin with.

The Mike Brown’s and Aaron Downey’s of the NHL are long gone, but it seems that the remnants of the past still exist somewhere, and unfortunately, it just happens to be with a Leafs team that needs a lot more than what Reaves has brought.

As the 2023-24 season rages on, the Canadiens have gotten off to a fun, fast-paced start with a number of exciting games thus far. As the Maple Leafs look to fully exercise their playoff demons after getting over the initial hump last season, the roster is still working out its kinks, but just 10 games into this season, it seems as though Ryan Reaves, is one such kink that just simply isn’t needed, nor belongs in the NHL anymore.

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