Ryan Reaves Draws Back Into the Lineup After Leafs Forward Misses Practice Due to Injury
Ryan Reaves has earned himself another spot in the lineup as Toronto deals with an injury to one of their important fourth line forwards.
For the better part of a month the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt with a litany of injuries to some very important players. Auston Matthews missed time, Jake McCabe has been out twice, and currently both John Tavares and Anthony Stolarz are dealing with ailments.
It's a shame because the team was finally starting to get healthy and it was giving them a huge boost offensively, and though they've won three in a row they would like to be healthy as well.
So it's a bit of unfortunate news that the team is dealing with another injury and while it's not the name value of Auston Matthews, he's just as important to the makeup of the Leafs.
Connor Dewar's Injury Leads Way For Ryan Reaves In The Lineup
Since Dewar is out, it will be up to Ryan Reaves to help out the fourth line and though it might not be a fan's first option, he's going to add a lot of energy and make sure that hits aplenty are thrown.
This season Reaves hasn't added much offense but tries to make up for it in hitting opponents, though some fans would prefer he does so with his fists from time to time.
With zero goals, two assists but 91 hits; Reaves will rely on David Kampf and Steven Lorentz to add defense and take off some of the load while he can skate around and deliver punishment.
Though he'll add some energy it doesn't take away just how good Dewar has been this season even in a reduced role. He's only got three assists but also adds more blocked shots than Reaves (18 to 7), is close in hits (Dewar has 79), and has been one of Toronto's better 5 on 5 defenders.
Dewar has transformed into a much more defensively-minded center, which is no surprise under Craig Berube although he could add some more offense if given a bigger role.
Dewar had 32 points in 138 games for the Minnesota Wild, including 11 goals last season; 10 of them coming before he came over to the Leafs.
Toronto missing Dewar isn't the end of the world, and the team has enough pieces available to cover for him, it's still another injury to a team that when healthy is as dangerous as any in the NHL.
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7 HOURS AGO | 165 ANSWERS Ryan Reaves Draws Back Into the Lineup After Leafs Forward Misses Practice Due to Injury Who do you think is the better fourth line player between Ryan Reaves and Connor Dewar? | ||
