Ryan Reaves was thought of as an expendable brute for most of his career. Several coaches even benched him in favor of “more talented players.” The reality is he has reinvented himself and bettered himself.
The St. Louis Blues had to know what kind of player they were getting when they drafted Ryan Reaves way back in 2005. He was always going to be the kind of player he is now.
Even as a minor leaguer and in junior, he was not a big point producer. There are some guys that score tons in junior and have to reinvent themselves when they can’t score in the NHL. That was not Reaves.
As a young player, the most points he had was 35 back in the WHL and the Brandon Wheat Kings. If that is the highest point in your career, you know a player is not going to score tons of points at the highest level.
That was not why he was drafted though. St. Louis knew he was going to be a big body who took no crap from anyone, stuck up for their teammates and fought for every inch.
That has been just about the dictionary definition of Reaves and his time with the Blues. He has been the team’s enforcer in an age when enforcers are not in style.
Fighting is waning in the league, but there is still enough of it to have a guy that is feared in the league. Reaves will not go down in the annals of fighting history like Tony Twist or Bob Probert, but he takes a back seat to no man.
In 2016-17, he knew that could not be the only thing he brought to the table. The game was changing and he needed to change with it if he wanted to still have a seat at the table.
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That was perhaps the biggest knock against Barret Jackman. He won the Calder Trophy and then struggled after that as the league changed its rules.
Reaves could see the writing on the wall and refused to take a similar path. Afterall, he was not going to have the coaches’ sentiment on his side the way Jackman did at times.
In the offseason, Reaves reinvigorated his game. He worked hard to improve his skating, footwork and speed. He also spent time getting the kinks out of his offensive game.
Nobody, including himself, was ever going to plan on him scoring 20 goals. Still, by bringing more to the table offensively, he made himself a better all-around player and an asset that was not going to be a healthy scratch.
All that work paid off for Reaves. He had career highs in goals (7) and points (13).
Reaves fell just short of career marks in other categories as well. He played in 80 games in the regular season, just shy of the 81 in 2014-15, and threw more hits than in any other season than one.
Despite the shift in his style, his priorities remained the same. Reaves led the team with 42 hits in the playoffs and 239 in the regular season.
The shift made him a smarter player though. Whereas in the past he would simply bash someone in the corner, this season, Reaves would take out an opponent without putting himself out of position for the next play.
This allowed his entire line to gain more ice time because they were not just bruisers. They were smart hockey players that the team could rely on in more and more situations.
Reaves set a career high for playing time in both the playoffs and regular season. That’s because he was now a player that could be relied on.
Others will still undervalue Reaves. Each fan has to have their own priorities and attributes they favor. Even the Post-Dispatch gave him a lower grade than I did.
However, his willingness to keep improving and change to find ways to keep his spot is too admirable. Not all high grades should be reserved for scorers.
Reaves’ work ethic and tenacity should be rewarded. Now, with the expansion draft approaching, we can only hope Las Vegas overlooks Reaves like so many others do.