I was in the middle of a meeting on Zoom on Wednesday when I received a notification from the Wild app on my phone that Ryan Reaves was now a member of the Minnesota Wild via a trade with the New York Rangers receiving a fifth round pick in the 2025 NHL draft. I immediately did a double take. I was shocked.
If
you’re a Wild fan, you remember the fight between Reaves and now-teammate
Marcus Foligno from the Wild’s home opener against Reaves’ now former team, the
New York Rangers. A little over a month later, they are now teammates. In
Reaves’ debut with the Wild vs Toronto, they were actually linemates---and I
liked it! (I watched the game on TV on Friday, so I have yet to see this in
person.) 
The infamous pic from the Marcus Foligno-Ryan Reaves
bout from the Wild's home opener on October 13
(photo courtesy of Aaron Lavinsky/AP)
Shortly after the trade, Reaves was asked if there was any awkwardness for him now that he’s teammates with Foligno and Reaves replied:
“Never…I’ve always had respect for him. He plays hard. He plays the right way. He doesn’t do anything dirty. He sticks up for his teammates. He answers the bell when he has to. That’s a guy I’ve always respected. No hard feelings.”
Reaves went on to say that he did get a text message from Foligno shortly after the trade was made official stating they’d be meeting on better terms. Reaves replied with “it was never and terms. It was just business.”
Wild Head Coach Dean Evason was asked about Ryan Reaves during his post-game press conference Wednesday night after the Wild beat up on the Winnipeg Jets 6-1. Evason stated that even though he hadn’t spoken with Reaves yet, he knew Reaves was on his way to the Twin Cities so that he could practice with the team the next day. (Reaves made his debut with his new team when the Wild faced Toronto the day after Thanksgiving).
According to nhl.com and Bardown Beauty’s Jessi Pierce, the cheers were loud when Reaves was introduced in the starting lineup for the game against Toronto.
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| Tweet courtesy of Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) |
The
trade worked out for all sides involved. Reaves had been a healthy scratch for
seven of the last eight games he was with the Rangers. There are reports Reaves
actually requested the trade based off of his lack of playing time. With Reaves
joining the Wild line up, that frees up Marcus Foligno from having to play the “enforcer”
role and focus more on his game. Wild General Manager Bill Guerin believes he
can help the team rediscover their hard-forechecking identity, along with
bringing an energy they definitely need. Reaves stated to the The Athletic
before flying here to the Twin Cities:
“…I bring energy, I bring physical play, I bring swagger. I look forward to bringing that in Minny. I’m excited. They had a good run last year. They’re a good team. Just fell short.”
I don't know about you, but I think the Minnesota Wild are happy to have Ryan Reaves in a Wild uniform....
Sources:
Wild add Ryan Reaves, then take a big step toward finding their identity
Rangers trade Ryan Reaves to Wild: Why the forward is a good fit for Minnesota
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