On Friday, during the first round of the NHL Entry Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded the 31st overall pick and Oskar Sundqvist for St. Louis Blues forward Ryan Reaves.
The trade was met with a lot of criticism. Why do the Pittsburgh Penguins exactly need Ryan Reaves? Was he really worth that much? What good is he on a Stanley Cup winning team?
Pittsburgh Penguins
These are the types of questions asked about Reaves, but when we look very closely at the entire situation, we can see that he is actually quite useful for our team, and will make the Penguins much stronger in the end.
Defensive Measures
All throughout the playoffs, the Penguins were beat up and tattered by the likes of other teams. Our stars were left unprotected a lot of the time and injuries and other problems ensued. The Penguins clearly took note of this and desired to fix it.
Rutherford: “We’re getting a little bit tired of getting beat up game after game.”
— Sam Werner (@sjwerner11) June 24, 2017
As Rutherford put it above, it’s clear he envisioned the Penguins being a little more tougher next season, as we try to go for a three-peat.
Well bring in Ryan Reaves, a tough guy who also has an interesting offensive flair. Reaves can do exactly what we’ve been needing, someone who can protect our stars effectively. Somebody needs to get gritty and stop anything from happening to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and others. Reaves is that guy, and he’ll make us a tougher team to play against.
Very Serviceable
One thing people should notice is that Reaves is a very serviceable player who contributed a lot to the Blues. Last season, he played 80 games for the team, ensuring that his contributions matter enough to play game in and out. A go-to guy that can be there for us when needed is what we need.
He has also been evidently improving his game from solely being a tough guy. His offensive prowess is growing and he can truly help out on our team.