Rangers agree to one-year extension with new trade acquisition Ryan Reaves
Anthony Scultore
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Newly acquired forward Ryan Reaves and the New York Rangers agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2022-23 season on Saturday.
Terms were not disclosed, but Reaves is signed for this season at a cap hit of $1.75 million. Reaves’ new deal will be in that range, according to Sportsnet.
The Rangers acquired Reaves from the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Vegas received a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in exchange for Reaves.
Rangers extend Ryan Reaves after trade
Reaves, 34, logged just one goal and four assists while racking up 27 penalty minutes in 37 games during the 2020-21 regular season. In the playoffs, he had no goals and one assist in 12 games, missing two games after getting suspended for pulling out hair from the Colorado Avalanche’s Ryan Graves.
In 686 career NHL games for the St. Louis Blues (2010-17), Pittsburgh Penguins (2017-18) and Golden Knights (2017-21), Reaves has 49 goals, 52 assists and 937 penalty minutes.
Reaves will be reunited with new Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant, who was in charge in Vegas from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Reavo as he’s affectionately known by his fans and teammates posted a long goodby to the city of Vegas. He thanked the fans and the organization for his time there. When it was all said and done, he gave his new home a shout out.
“Now having said all that,” as he slipped on a pair of Ray-Bans, “New York what’s good baby! LET’S GO!”
@reavo7five seems a little pumped #NYR – (h/t IG) pic.twitter.com/YfcDmnx4UL— Forever Blueshirts (@4EverBlueshirts) July 30, 2021
Ryan Reaves ready to take on Tom Wilson for the Blueshirts
Ryan Reaves was on John Scott’s podcast before the playoffs and gave his thoughts on the Tom Wilson incident with the Rangers. “When you see it, that’s a scrum – he took it too far. But again, there’s another one of those scenarios where he knows he can do that and there’s going to be no repercussions.”
“If New York had anyone in their system they would’ve called them up and their would’ve been repercussions,” he continued. “There were a ton of fights and that was great on their team but I don’t think Tom Wilson was scared to go into the next game.”
“If that happens and he doesn’t get kicked out of that game I can promise you we’re fighting three times,” Reaves said, almost lobbying to join the Rangers to handle this. “And if he does get kicked out, I promise you we’re fighting three times or I’m jumping you. Take your pick – defense yourself or let’s just get it over with.”
Reaves is no stranger to the physical aspects of the game. In 686 games he has accumulated 937 penalty minutes. He can also chip in with some occasional offense as he’s picked up 101 points over that time. The big forward also likes to throw the body with 2,322 hits in his career to go with 75 major penalties.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article.