Toronto Maple Leafs sign Ryan Reaves to three-year contract with $1.35 AAV

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is looking to make his first big move in the role, although it’s not the kind of big you may be expecting.

The Leafs have signed winger Ryan Reaves to a three-year contract with a $1.35 million cap hit.

Reaves, 36, is an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $1.75 million contract, one he originally signed with the New York Rangers as an extension in the 2021 offseason before he had played a game with the team. He eventually fell out of favour at the start of the 2022-23 season in New York, and was dealt to the Minnesota Wild, where he played out the remainder of the year.

Reaves is coming off of one of his better seasons, as he put up 5 goals, 10 assists, and 15 points in 73 games between the Rangers and Wild, although all 15 points came in his 61 games with the Wild. His 10 assists and 15 points are the second-most in a season in his career, with both career-highs coming in 2018-19 with the Vegas Golden Knights when he had 9 goals, 11 assists, and 20 points in 80 games.

Reaves was held to zero points in his six playoff games with the Wild as they were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in six games.

Reaves is a former fifth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2005, where he spent 10 seasons in the organization and seven in the NHL before he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s since spent the last seven seasons with the Penguins, Golden Knights, Rangers, and Wild.

With Reaves as the first reported potential move of the day for the Leafs, they have yet to make any other signings or trades on July 1st. It’s been a quiet offseason so far outside of their general manager change, as they’ve only signed David Kampf to a four-year contract with a $2.4 AAV and Pontus Holmberg to a two-year contract with an $800,000 cap hit.

The Leafs will look to continue to push for their first Stanley Cup win since 1967, and build on a slightly more successful season by their standards after winning their first playoff series since 2004 before losing to the Florida Panthers in five games in the second round. They still had another dominant regular season, finishing second in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the NHL with a 50-21-11 record.