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When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Ryan Reaves, that signing was met with combined feelings and complicated expectations. While there was a transparent want for extra physicality and toughness on this Maple Leafs crew, the position of a so-called enforcer in the NHL has been evolving. It isn’t prefer it was once in the NHL.
In the previous, Maple Leafs’ gamers like Matt Martin (a veteran ahead identified for his bodily play with the Maple Leafs throughout the 2016-2018 seasons – he’s in all probability in his final NHL season and is at present enjoying for the New York Islanders), Wayne Simmonds (who now not performs in the NHL), and Kyle Clifford (who’s plying his craft with the American Hockey League (AHL) Toronto Marlies) have tried to convey toughness to the Maple Leafs. However, none of them had include Reaves’ popularity. Nor had been they enlisted for the job of single-handedly remodeling the crew’s identification from mushy to powerful, which has been the case for Reaves.
Changing a crew’s identification is a load of duty for Reaves to hold. But, he comes with extra. He has the popularity of being a revered teammate in his earlier organizational stops. The hope was that he might present the sort of management and grit that the crew wanted to play with some swagger. Still, skepticism remained from many followers.
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For critics of the Reaves’ signing, two logical issues appeared to exist. First, Reaves was already 36 years outdated and slowing down. Second, his role as a classic NHL enforcer had slowly develop into anachronistic in the fashionable NHL. In different phrases, Reaves was seen by some as a dinosaur. Impressive for his measurement and energy, however merely out of his factor in 2023-24.
A Promising Start Followed by Concerns
Still, throughout the early video games of the season, Reaves lived as much as a few of the expectations that had been positioned on him. He engaged in fights with opponents, together with a bout with Montreal Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj in the dwelling opener and one other with Marcus Foligno in the second recreation of the season. These fights added a component of physicality to the Maple Leafs’ recreation, they usually confirmed that Reaves was keen to face up for his teammates.
However, as the season progressed, there was a noticeable decline in the frequency of fights involving Reaves. Instead of persistently “enforcing” (or no matter the actual job description is perhaps written for an enforcer), his time on the ice with the crew’s fourth line became disorganized chaos. His fourth line spent extra time attempting to outlive defensively than even eager about mounting any pushback. They had been usually overwhelmed by the offensive prowess of the different crew’s traces.
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In addition, though nobody anticipated Reaves to combat each recreation, it was clear that the Maple Leafs wanted their gamers to face up for one another, each bodily and mentally. Nothing about Reaves’ grit rubbed off on anybody else. The remainder of the crew merely was not doing that for one another. Whatever toughness Reaves carried with him stayed with him. No one else appeared to get the memo.
Reaves (or the Team) Missed an Opportunity to Respond in Boston
This total undertaking with Reaves went south throughout Thursday night time’s recreation in Boston. In that recreation, Maple Leafs’ defenseman Timothy Liljegren was injured after an “incident” with Brad Marchand. Marchand, identified for his dangerously combative model of play, used his follow journey Liljegren, which led to a significant injury. Despite the blatant foul play – a can-opener, it’s known as, nobody on the Maple Leafs confronted Marchand.
This incident appeared a missed alternative for the Maple Leafs to ship a message to one among its most iconic opponents. Someone might have mentioned don’t mess with my teammates. Instead, the crew as an entire failed to reply, and it turned evident that one thing was amiss with the plan.
Two Problems with the Reaves Toughness Plan
There are two issues with the Maple Leafs’ plan to usher in Reaves as an outdoor warrior. First, the thought shouldn’t be to trot out a gladiator only for the sake of anybody’s bloodthirst. The job is to construct a crew with enough solidarity in order that its manner of being (its tradition) is to deal with its personal. When going through robust and aggressive opponents, the total crew should reply decisively to guard teammates and ship a transparent message that nobody in our home may be pushed round the ultimate pushback.
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Second, whereas I’ve no private critique of Reaves, I imagine the activity set for him was unattainable to interact. Again with no disrespect to him, one among my greatest issues with a participant like Reaves is the influence he can have on the improvement of the youthful skills inside the group.
He takes up house. The Maple Leafs have promising prospects of their system, like Bobby McMann, Alex Steeves, and Nick Robertson, who’re desirous to make their mark in the NHL. Certainly, a teenager with some want and willpower would soar into the fray if Reaves weren’t round and the tradition had been created all through the group. [Bless him, I can even see Robertson stepping up to Marchand for Liljegren’s sake. Can you see Marchand turtling on someone his own size?]
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Reaves’ presence on the roster, and the position he’s been given, not solely limits youthful gamers’ alternatives but in addition any likelihood the teaching workers has to evaluate their readiness for the NHL. He additionally offers the phantasm of making a fast repair for the drawback of crew solidarity, which needs to be everybody’s job. I’d choose to see these up-and-coming gamers get extra ice time and publicity to top-level competitors fairly than have a seasoned enforcer in the lineup, probably slowing down their progress.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Keefe Says No Excuses For Inconsistent Play
Balancing the want for toughness with the want for participant improvement is a problem, and the Maple Leafs should construct the proper tradition to construct a contending crew.
The Real Issue Is Not About Reaves’ Toughness
While I hear issues raised about Reaves dropping his edge after two video games, that isn’t the difficulty. Even if he has a popularity as being the hardest participant in the NHL, he can’t be a proxy for collective crew solidarity. It isn’t toughness that’s the difficulty, it’s solidarity – being there for one another each single time.
This crew doesn’t want Reaves to be its Goliath. It wants a bunch of gamers with slingshots who’re dedicated to one another’s welfare. These are gamers who will go to battle towards any opponent who treats a teammate dangerously. A couple of little guys with grit will do exactly tremendous for me.
They don’t even should win; they only have to indicate up. If they do, they may encourage one another to affix the fray in ways in which an enforcer like Reaves can by no means do.
Reaves is a band-aid resolution for an even bigger drawback. That’s why he’ll by no means be the reply for what ails this Maple Leafs crew.
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