Ryan Reaves, a la Alex Ovechkin, is not ready to call it quits on his NHL career just yet.
The veteran enforcer is just 38 games away from reaching the 1,000 games played milestone, but is without a contract yet for the 2026-27 campaign. This past season with the San Jose Sharks, Reaves finished up the final year of the three-year, $4.05 million contract he originally signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023.
Reaves spoke about his desire to play one more year during his appearance on TSN’s First Up with Korolnek and Colaiacovio on Thursday.
Ryan Reaves discusses wanting to extend his NHL career
“I mean, playing 1,000 games in the NHL is an honor for sure, especially in the role that I’ve played,” Reaves said. “I’ve been training all summer already, and (my) body’s holding up pretty well. I just think I’ve got one more left in the tank. I think as I came into the league and the older guys have given me advice, one (piece of) advice that has been consistent throughout all of them is play as long as you possibly can.
“Because when it’s over, it’s over, and you’re going to miss it. You don’t have regrets of, ‘I could have played one more year, and I shouldn’t have shut it down.’ So I don’t want to have that regret. I think one more year would be fun. And, you know, to say I played at 40 would also be kind of fun, too.”
Only three players in the NHL last season were aged 40 or over: Ovechkin, Corey Perry, and Brent Burns. All three will be back for the 2026-27 season and will soon be joined by Evgeni Malkin and potentially Reaves if he finds a team willing to ink him to an NHL contract.
Reaves played in 50 games for the Sharks this past year, scoring three goals. He suffered an upper-body injury, assumed to be a broken left finger, in a fight against Philadelphia Flyers forward Garrett Wilson on March 21 and did not feature in the team’s lineup after that. Reaves seemingly dislocated the finger in the bout and unsuccessfully tried to pop it back into place multiple times before leaving the game.
After the game against the Flyers had ended, Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow made headlines when he got emotional speaking about Reaves. The Sharks eventually emptied his locker room stall, and Reaves transitioned to a TV role, providing analysis during Sharks games. Reaves also attended the NHL’s Broadcast Training Camp this summer.
Reaves has spent his 962 career games with the Sharks, Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Rangers, and Minnesota Wild. He has recorded 140 career points (66g, 74a) and 1,137 penalty minutes.
