According to the Associated Press on Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights have signed Ryan Reaves of Winnipeg, Manitoba to a two-year contract extension. During that time, Reaves is to make $3.5 million.
Reaves will be earning $1.75 in 2020-21 and again in 2021-22. He was making $2.8 million in 2019-20.
In 71 games for the Golden Knights this season, Reaves had eight goals and seven assists for 15 points. He was a -5 with 47 penalty minutes, one game winning goal, 61 shots on goal, 24 faceoff wins, 24 blocked shots, 316 hits, 17 takeaways, and seven giveaways. Reaves’s game winning goal came in a 5-3 Golden Knights win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 20.
Reaves is one of the National Hockey League’s premier enforcers. He has 910 penalty minutes in 649 NHL career regular season games with the Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins from 2010 to 2020.
Reaves is also known for his physicality. He led the NHL with 316 hits this past season. Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators was second with 303 hits.
It as an excellent regular season for the Golden Knights. They won the Pacific Division with 86 points. The Golden Knights’ record was 39 wins, 24 losses, and eight losses in extra time.
By being in the top four teams in the Western Conference, the Golden Knights will also go right to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and bypass the qualifying round. The Golden Knights have also been selected as one of the two hub cities for the Stanley Cup Playoffs according to Chris Johnston of Rogers Sportsnet. This means that Reaves will have home-ice advantage with the Golden Knights.
The second NHL hub city is expected to be announced on June 22. Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto are in the mix.
Ryan Reaves is part of a notable sports family. His father Willard Reaves was a star running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Willard had a magnificent Canadian Football League season in 1984 as he was the Canadian Football League’s most outstanding player, won the Grey Cup, led the CFL with 1733 rushing yards and set the CFL record for most yards from scrimmage in a single season with 2140 yards. Meanwhile Ryan Reaves’s brother Jordan Reaves of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
