Ryan Reaves denies trying to draw Mitch Marner away from Maple Leafs

Much like his on-ice bouts, Ryan Reaves’ tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs went out with a bang last week.

Reaves made headlines earlier this month after an appearance on The Cam & Strick Podcast where the former Golden Knight talked about giving guidance to Mitch Marner on moving to Las Vegas and the pressures of playing in Toronto. Not long after, he was dealt to the San Jose Sharks, with some fans questioning the timing of the deal in relation to his comments.

On Monday, Reaves joined Leafs Morning Take to clear the air. Spoiler alert, he said his comments had “nothing to do” with his trade, and that he already knew he was on his way out by that point. Beyond that, he was candid in sharing his frustrations with fans upset at him talking up Vegas to Marner.

“Mitchy was hitting free agency, I think that was pretty public knowledge,” Reaves told Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill. “I’m very close with Mitchy … He asked me my opinion about Vegas. I played there for four years, I live here all summer because I love the city, what do you want me to do? You want me to lie to him because I’m still technically signed with Toronto? That’s my boy, I’m not gonna steer him wrong.”

As usual, Reaves was blunt and honest, doubling down on his feelings on the pressures of playing in Toronto while reflecting on his time in Las Vegas.

“I loved my time here, I enjoyed every second of it,” Reaves said, of playing with the Golden Knights. “I think it’s a great place to live. You have the weather, you have the city that’s a little more toned down than Toronto in relation to the fans and how much pressure there is there. I’m not gonna lie to him about that. I wasn’t trying to draw him away from Toronto, I was just being honest to one of my boys.”

As someone who seemed to crumble under the pressure of playing in Toronto, especially as a hometown kid, it seems Marner took these words to heart in choosing to head to Nevada. Then again, being able to rise to the occasion is part of being a professional athlete, and the whole Toronto is a tough market narrative is getting a little tired. Maybe with Reaves and Marner gone, we can finally put that to bed for a while.

Meanwhile, Reaves also took time Monday to speak about another piece of criticism he faced this season in his lack of fighting. While fans and media alike questioned why he seemed hesistant to drop the gloves this year, he said it was mostly circumstantial.

He referenced matchups against the likes of Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nicolas DesLauriers of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Kurtis MacDermid of the New Jersey Devils as impeded by injuries or healthy scratches for either him or his potential opponent.

“There’s not a lot of heavies that are gonna fight me,” Reaves said. “So if I’m missing six, seven games of playing against heavies, that’s just kind of the circumstances of what I was dealt this year.”

While this explanation may not satisfy some frustrated fans, what’s done is done. And as Toronto chases a new identity this season, they’ll be doing it without the veteran enforcer in the Maple Leafs sweater.