The Toronto Maple Leafs placed enforcer Ryan Reaves on waivers Thursday afternoon.
Any team can claim Reaves over the next 24 hours. He can be sent to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies if he’s not claimed.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the news.
Ryan Reaves (TOR) on waivers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 6, 2025
Reaves has played 35 games for the Maple Leafs this season, recording just two points (2a). He has not scored a goal since April 17, 2024.
The 38-year-old winger is in the second season of a three-year, $4.05 million contract ($1.35M AAV) that he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2023 free agency. Toronto will free up $1.15 million in cap space ahead of the trade deadline if they assign him to the Marlies. They’ll save the full $1.35 million in space if he is claimed.
Reaves was ejected and subsequently suspended five games for a headshot on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse earlier this year. He also had a run-in with a stray dasherboard ad sticking to his rear end in a game against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
If this spells the end for Reaves in Toronto, it’ll cap off an entertaining run for Tom Wilson’s self-proclaimed nemesis where he once claimed that the team kept him on injured reserve despite being healthy for weeks, declared the return of “violence” to hockey, was healthy scratched for another Game 7 in the playoffs, and called some of his own team’s fans basement dwellers.
