Ryan Reaves suffered a knee injury during a game on Dec. 14 and hasn’t returned to play since.
Reaves has remained on the Leafs’ injured reserve list, but as it turns out, he’s more than ready to play and healthy enough to get back in the lineup.
When Reaves celebrated his 37th birthday last week, he did it by missing his 17th consecutive game.
He did pop out a kneecap when suffering his injury in December, but Reaves insists he’s healthy.
He doesn’t want to theorize why he hasn’t returned to the lineup.
“Yeah, I’ve been ready for a couple weeks now,” Reaves told Sportsbet’s Luke Fox.
“That’s a question for them. I am not in those rooms, in those conversations. I’m not going to speculate anything. Just stay ready. And if I get called upon, I do. If I don’t, I get my work in.”
The Leafs signed Reaves to a three-year contract worth $1.35 million annually this summer. Reaves only has one point and two fights in 21 games, while averaging 7:20 per game.
He’s being brutally honest about his feelings about being a healthy scratch.
“I mean, it’s not fun,” Reaves said. “Nobody likes watching hockey when your team’s going out to battle. I definitely hate it. But there’s nothing really more I can do. I don’t know exactly what the situation is or what’s going to happen. I guess just stay patient and find out.”
Reaves was in a similar situation last year. He was a healthy scratch for the Rangers before being traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he had a great end to the season.
This time, it won’t be as easy to opt out, given the length of his contract.
“I talked to my agents. I mean, I’ve been through this before. I’ve had highs and lows in my career before. I’d say probably this is one of the tougher ones. I guess just… it is what it is,” Reaves said. “You can only control what you can control. I don’t make the lineup, and I don’t have any control over the roster.
“So, I can’t really sit here and speculate and bitch and moan over anything. Either stay patient to get in the lineup – or stay patient for whatever else is going to come.”
