Toronto Maple Leafs' First Practice of 2024 Features an Unexpected Attendee: Surprise Comes In The Form Of Enforcer Ryan Reaves

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James Connelly
January 1, 2024 (1:05 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs had their first practice of the 2024 calendar year and it included an unexpected attendee: Ryan Reaves.

Ryan Reaves Shows Up To The First Practice Of The Year

In mid-December, Ryan Reaves went down with a lower-body injury that looked like it would knock him out of play long-term.

Ryan Reaves leaves with an injury and then falls down some stairs; who puts stairs in a tunnel?

Ryan Reaves left the ice after colliding with the boards

Hoping Toronto's Ryan Reaves is okay after this scary solo crash into the boards... but did the training staff just push him down a flight of stairs there?

Since then, Reaves has been working on recovering from the injury. It seems like enough time has passed and he is finally able to compete again as he was spotted at the Leafs practice today.

Ryan Reaves appears set to join the club on the ice for practice here. Has been skating individually for a few days now.

It is unknown when Reaves will draw back into the lineup but it should be soon enough as skating with the team is a massive step in his recovery.

Ryan Reaves' mixed tenure In Toronto

Since signing a three-year contract over the offseason, Ryan Reaves has had a mixed tenure in Toronto. He currently has one goal through 21 games this year but was not brought in for his goalscoring.

First goal with the Maple Leafs for Ryan Reaves!

Reaves was brought in for his physicality and while he has gotten into a couple of fights this year, he has largely not been answering the bell.

Hopefully, Reaves is able to bring the physicality when he returns but he will have to be wary of not injuring himself again. If he is able to stay healthy, we could watch him jump to the top of the NHL leaderboard in fights and probably fight wins as well.