The Ryan Reaves experiment appears to have already failed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Monday evening, in a 6-5 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the big man who was hired at a high price this summer remained tied to the bench from the 12th minute of the second period.
• Also read: Maple Leafs: Everyone’s smiling again… except their goalie
• Also read: Auston Matthews now has more goals than the Sharks!
Head coach Sheldon Keefe only sent Reaves onto the ice for 4:36 minutes against the Bolts. That’s about three minutes less than his average playing time since the start of the season.
The 36-year-old forward came to the Leafs via the free agent market. On July 1, he signed a three-year contract worth $1.35 million annually. However, the one who should allow Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Co. to feel “safer” on the ice is having a very difficult time in the first few weeks of his new training.
He was in uniform for all 12 of his team’s games, but maintained a terrible -8 differential. This is a peak of mediocrity among the representatives of the Toronto club. Aside from being a nuisance defensively, Reaves has yet to score a single point.