- Ryan Reaves announced his retirement Wednesday on Instagram at 39 years old
- He leaves with 962 games, 3,225 hits and 1,137 penalty minutes across seven franchises
- Read below for his full signoff and the numbers behind one of the NHL’s last true enforcers
Ryan Reaves is done, and he went out sounding exactly like himself.
The 39-year-old announced his retirement Wednesday in a letter posted to his Instagram account, signing off with a line that covers 16 seasons of work in one breath: “You can rest easy knowing the corners are a little safer today. Mic drop, gloves drop. Reavo out.”
That signoff closes a letter he opened with “Dear Hockey,” thanking the game on his way out the door.
Reaves finishes with 66 goals, 140 points and 1,137 penalty minutes in 962 regular season games. He dressed for the Blues, Penguins, Golden Knights, Rangers, Wild, Maple Leafs and Sharks, and added nine points and 116 penalty minutes in 113 playoff games.
Scoring was never the job. Reaves averaged 8:43 of ice time per night and never once reached double digits in goals.
What he did instead was hit people, 3,225 times. Only six players have cleared 3,000 hits since the league started tracking the stat, and his single-season high of 316 came in 2019-20.
He also fought 96 times in the NHL. The volume came early, with eight fights in 28 games as a rookie and 13 more in 60 games the following season, back when teams still carried someone to answer for it.
Vegas gave the Winnipeg native his best offensive year in 2018-19, when he put up nine goals and 20 points. The season before that, he scored twice during the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.
His final season was spent as the veteran voice in a young San Jose room. Reaves had three goals in 50 games before a hand injury in a March 21 fight ended his year, and the one-year, $1.35 million deal he signed with the Sharks expired over the summer.
He is the third recognizable name to walk away this month, following Connor Ingram and John Klingberg out the door.
