Sharks’ Ryan Reaves explains why he only fought once with Maple Leafs in 2024-25

Nearly two weeks since Ryan Reaves was traded to the San Jose Sharks, the former Toronto Maple Leafs pugilist sat down with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on The Leafs Nation to discuss his time in Toronto, including why he only dropped the gloves once in 35 regular-season games in 2024-25.

“Beginning of the season, we played New Jersey (Devils), second game of the season. I got scratched right away. We played (the) Columbus (Blue Jackets), I think, soon after that. (Mathieu) Olivier had a broken hand,” Reaves said. “We played (the Philadelphia Flyers) twice, (Nicolas) Delauriers was hurt for both those games. I believe I was scratched for one of those games. Then we played Jersey again. I played, (Kurtis) MacDermid didn’t play. MacDermid played, I didn’t play.”

Reaves only fight during the 2024-25 season was against the 28-year-old Olivier, who is among the NHL’s toughest players.

“There’s not a lot of heavies that are going to fight me, right? And so, if I’m missing, right there, that’s six, seven games of playing against heavies,” Reaves continued. “That’s just kind of the circumstance of what I was dealt this year. Definitely not my design, definitely not what I wanted to do. Obviously, my role is to fight, and I would love to have done it a little bit more. Those guys I didn’t play against, and also, I was scratched a ton this year. That’s just kind of the facts.”

Through 15 NHL seasons, Reaves, a 2005 fifth-round pick for the St. Louis Blues, has 63 goals and 74 assists for 137 points and 1,100 penalty minutes in 912 career regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, Blues, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Reaves also has three goals and six assists for nine points and 116 penalty minutes in 113 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was a member of the Golden Knights’ inaugural season, helping the club advance to the Stanley Cup Final.