Ryan Reaves no longer occupies a stall in the San Jose Sharks locker room.
According to Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller, the veteran forward emptied his locker ahead of the team’s morning skate on Monday. His stall had neither his gear nor his belongings, and his nameplate had been removed.
Reaves still attended the skate, but did not participate, watching practice in a hoodie from the team’s bench.
The 39-year-old winger suffered an upper-body injury, assumed to be a broken left finger, in a fight against Philadelphia Flyers forward Garrett Wilson on March 21. Reaves seemingly dislocated the finger in the bout and unsuccessfully tried to pop it back into place multiple times before leaving the game.
Given the severity of the injury, it’s unlikely Reaves will be back for San Jose’s remaining games this season. The expected absence is likely why his locker was cleared out so that if the Sharks make a recall or add to their roster in another way, they’ll have room for that player. However, Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky wouldn’t commit to that being the plan just yet.
“I would say it is too soon to say,” Warsofsky told Miller. “[Reaves] wanted to come on the bench and be part of [practice]. That’s good. He’s going to be around. Another guy who knows what it takes this time of year. He’s been on long playoff runs. He knows what winning looks like, how you have to play the game this time of year, and he’s going to continue to voice that. The more voices we get to help our players understand that, the better we’re going to be in the long run.”
After the game against the Flyers had ended, Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow made headlines when he got emotional speaking about Reaves. The former feared enforcer, who has just three points in 50 games this season, is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, and probably won’t have a ton of suitors looking to help him continue his career.
“He’s the best guy,” Goodrow said then. “Even when you know he’s not playing, he’s there for everyone. He works his butt off every day. I think everyone in the room can learn a lot from a guy like that.”
Later on Monday, Reaves joined the Sharks TV broadcast of their game against the St. Louis Blues. San Jose beat St. Louis 5-4, and Macklin Celebrini reached the 100-point mark with a three-point (2g, 1a) performance.
While on the broadcast, Reaves spoke about wanting to return to the Sharks next season and finish his career in San Jose. Reaves is just 38 games from reaching the 1,000-game mark in his career.
