Maple Leafs bring in Reaves on 3-year deal

Veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves will head to the Toronto Maple Leafs on a three-year deal worth $1.35 million per season, the team announced Saturday.

Reaves became available following the expiration of the one-year, $1.75-million contract he signed with the New York Rangers last summer. The 36-year-old spent the 2022-23 campaign split between Broadway and the Minnesota Wild, where he was traded in November.

The Maple Leafs entered free agency with approximately $11.5 million in cap space when factoring in long-term injured reserve candidates, according to Cap Friendly. However, Toronto only had 17 players signed for next season and has decisions to make on a group of key unrestricted free agents including Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Michael Bunting, Alexander Kerfoot, Justin Holl, and Luke Schenn.

Starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov is also due for a new deal as a RFA.

Reaves has appeared in 828 career games across 13 seasons split between the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Rangers, and Wild. He's managed 129 points along with 1,023 penalty minutes over that span.

This past campaign, the Winnipeg native collected five goals, 10 assists, and 196 hits in 73 appearances.