The Penguins paid a notable price to acquire winger Ryan Reaves back at the draft, trading down from the end of the first round to the middle of the second plus losing forward Oskar Sundqvist to secure his services. The hope was that Pittsburgh’s lineup would benefit from his toughness. However, his ice time has steadily declined in recent weeks to the point where Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that it may be time to take Reaves out of the lineup in an effort to play someone who can have more of an impact overall in winger Josh Archibald, at least against teams that aren’t overly physical. At any rate, GM Jim Rutherford can’t be too pleased with what Reaves has provided as of late, especially given the price they paid to get him. If this continues, it will be interesting to see if Reaves finds himself on the trade block, especially since several teams look to add grit as the playoffs get closer.
More from around the league:
- Mike Reilly’s inclusion in the lineup tonight for the Wild is notable as Michael Russo of The Athletic points out (Twitter link) that he is now waiver-eligible. Minnesota had sent him down on three separate occasions this season for short-term salary cap savings and roster reasons. Obviously, that will no longer be an option for the cap-strapped Wild as they won’t want to risk losing him on waivers moving forward. Center Joel Eriksson Ek is now the lone regular that they can shuttle back and forth without going through the waiver wire.
- Golden Knights winger William Carrier has resumed practicing, albeit with a non-contact jersey, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 22-year-old has been out of the lineup since sustaining an upper-body injury back on November 25th. Head coach Gerard Gallant wouldn’t commit to a timeline for when Carrier might be given the green light to return to the lineup.