TORONTO — The day Ryan Reaves signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs to help make them louder and punchier, everyone involved knew the third year would be challenging at best.
In the summer of 2023, general manager Brad Treliving had preferred to recruit the veteran fourth-line winger with the charismatic personality and punished knees on a two-year pact. But Reaves’ then-current club Minnesota was willing to match that term. Toronto had to pay a little more for a little longer to land the free agent.
And after long, frustrating stretches of scratches interrupted both of Reaves’ seasons north of the border, the 38-year-old who came in hotter than promised — flexing and fighting in his Leafs debut — was waived at the 2025 trade deadline to make room for younger, faster depth forwards.
After 1,025 games (regular season plus playoffs) in the show, a humbled Reaves was sent down to the AHL and dutifully skated with the Marlies.
“Not a lot of 38-year-olds down there. So, not really tailored for guys like me. But I played more minutes than I usually do,” Reaves told Sportsnet.ca during the playoffs. “It was obviously not where I wanted to be, but I used the time.”
Factor in Treliving’s recent value signing of scrapy forechecker Michael Pezzetta — tagged as a soon-to-be fan favourite — and Reaves, who served as a black ace for the Leafs in May, would have entered camp battling for a position on Toronto’s fifth line.
Had Treliving not orchestrated Thursday night’s trade for 24-year-old San Jose Sharks defenceman Henry Thrun, Reaves would have spent Year 3 buried in Toronto’s minors.
“You can see the writing on the wall. You’re not playing. You’re not really involved anymore,” Reaves said. “You know, it was tough. I hadn’t played in the AHL for 15 years now. It’s not somewhere I want to go back to, but that’s the nature of the business.
“I’d rather go play and be part of something than just kind of be sitting in limbo and doing nothing.”
Though hardly a blockbuster, the Reaves-Thrun trade appears to be a win for all involved.
Treliving — who has hit a few smart singles this summer as we await the big swing — does right by a man he respects. He gets Reaves to a rebuilding team the winger has a much better chance of making, and to a city closer to his Las Vegas home.
The young Sharks, who are more concerned about the salary cap’s floor than its ceiling, swap a $1-million cap hit for a $1.39-million cap hit. They should benefit from Reaves’s experience and energy. He’s a fun, engaging teammate who injects life into practice and is happy to give fighting tips.
“We’re excited to welcome Ryan to the organization,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said.
“He will bring energy, personality, physical play and toughness to our group. He has been a part of many winning teams, and I witnessed first-hand the positive impact he can bring to a group when I was with the Rangers.”
In acquiring the six-foot-two, 210-pound Thrun, Toronto gets a little younger and a little deeper on the blue line.
The native of Southborough, Mass., was drafted in the fourth round by the Anaheim Ducks in 2019. He won world junior gold with Team USA in 2021 and — fun fact! — scored his first NHL goal against the Maple Leafs, in 2024.
Thrun will have difficulty cracking a healthy Leafs lineup, and he’ll be best used in sheltered minutes. But he’s a puck mover (25 points in his first 119 NHL games) whose offensive peak is hopefully yet to come.
He’ll provide the likes of Simon Benoit, Philippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis with healthy internal competition and will be a nice option when injury inevitably strikes.
Thrun is set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of 2025-26.
And make no mistake: Treliving is far from done here.
There is another trade coming, and the Maple Leafs just carved out more cap room to facilitate.
