The time of the enforcer in the National Hockey League is coming to an end. We will see power forwards who have the skill to put the puck in the net and also drop the gloves, like the Tkachuks, Tom Wilson and even a Milan Lucic who may not be what he once was, but the thing is, he ''once was''.
Players like a Ryan Reaves are a dieing breed and were only in the NHL for fighting, not skill. The league is moving away from fighting and if you want to be in the league now you need to be fast, skilled and contribute in more ways than just dropping the gloves.
While Reaves is arguably the heavy-weight champion in the NHL right now, no one wants someone who can only fight and that's being shown by the Rangers scratching him for a third of their games so far this season.
While the original reason to bring in Reaves was after the Tom Wilson Artemi Panarin incident where the Washington Capitals rag-dolled the entire Rangers lineup, they are no longer looking for a crash and bang line, but now want to enroll a more skilled team, which head coach Gallant confirmed:
The 35 year of Reaves is in the final year of his deal which pays $1,700,000. The Rangers feel they have a team to compete this season for the cup and might look to make a big deadline move, which they could desperately use that cap space. If Reaves is not seen as value to the organization anymore, look for them to try and make a trade to get his cap off the books.
