A LATE-ROUND THROW-IN OUTLASTED EVERY BIG NAME IN THAT TRADE! | Ryan Reaves

Ryan Reaves returns to the Rangers lineup tonight against Tampa Bay, and the headline isn't his point total, it's a trade almost nobody remembers correctly. Drafted 156th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2005, Reaves became, in June 2017, the centerpiece the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins paid an actual first-round pick and forward Oskar Sundqvist to acquire, in exchange for Reaves plus a second-round pick. A contender spent real draft capital on a player whose box score never justified it on paper. Five years later, in 2022, Reaves won his own Stanley Cup, a fact that rarely comes up when his point totals get mocked. Tonight he slides in on the fourth line alongside Matt Rempe for a physical test against Tampa Bay, under a coaching staff that has talked all season about using him selectively by matchup. This video breaks down the actual mechanism behind that 2017 trade, why teams still pay real assets for players who can't buy a point on their own, and where this fan base's read on his current role gets it wrong. — SOURCES — Wikipedia, Ryan Reaves career and draft record (156th overall, 2005, St. Louis Blues): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Re... NHL.com, Penguins acquire Ryan Reaves and a 2017 2nd round draft pick from St. Louis (trade terms with Oskar Sundqvist and a 2017 1st round pick): https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/pen... Narration are AI generated. #RyanReaves #NYRangers #NHLNews