Reaves benched once again; the writing may be on the wall for Reavo in Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames are currently deadlocked 4-4 in the third period of their Friday night matchup. William Nylander has 3 points on the night thus far (2G, 1A), but while the game is knotted up at 4 goals apiece, the Leafs should probably be ahead ij this one. Unfortunately, once again, Ryan Reaves found himself on the ice for 2 goals against in just over 4 and a half minutes of ice time. I think you can see where this is going.
Reaves has been benched by the Leafs for the 2nd time in 3 games, which is certainly alarming. Coming into this one, there was some speculation that Reaves may end up being a healthy scratch, however, Sheldon Keefe dressed the veteran enforcer against a struggling Calgary Flames team, likely due to some of the personnel on the other end of the ice - namely 6'6, 248-pound Nikita Zadorov. Now, with Reaves having been benched once again, the question must be asked; should a healthy scratch be next?
Win or lose tonight, the Leafs have to play the red hot Vancouver Canucks tomorrow night and I don't think Keefe is going to risk dressing Reaves for that one, given the fact that he's -11 on the season in only 14 games played. The Canucks boast the best goal differential in the league at +33. They're also leading the league in goals for with 59.
It's getting to the point now where maybe a healthy scratch isn't the answer here. Clearly the Reaves addition isn't working out for the Leafs. Rather than continuing to allow preventable goals and losing valuable points in the standings, the Leafs may need to stop the bleeding and either waive or trade Reaves. That's just the reality of the situation. It's pretty unacceptable for a guy to be -11 in 14 games when he only plays about 6 minutes per night on average right now.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 10 | 538 ANSWERS Reaves benched once again; the writing may be on the wall for Reavo in Toronto What's the answer here for the Leafs and Ryan Reaves? | ||
| Trade him | 121 | 22.5 % |
| Let him play and figure it out | 90 | 16.7 % |
| Healthy scratch for a couple games | 127 | 23.6 % |
| Waive him and demote him to the Marlies | 200 | 37.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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