Vegas Golden Knights sign Ryan Reaves to two-year extension

The Vegas Golden Knights will have Ryan Reaves around a little longer, inking him to a two-year contract extension.

Ryan Reaves has been with the Vegas Golden Knights during all three seasons they have played, and he’ll be around a little longer. On Monday, the team announced it has agreed to a two-year, $3.5 million contract extension with the 33-year old winger.

Reaves had 15 points (eight goals) in 71 games for the Golden Knights during the shortened regular season. But scoring is not his game, as he led the league with 316 hits with 47 penalty minutes. Vegas finished tied for first place in the Pacific Division, and they will have a bye in the first round of the NHL’s 24-team playoff format.

Vegas acquired Reaves and a fourth-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tobias Lindberg in February of 2018. Over 10 seasons, with the St. Louis Blues, the Penguins and the Golden Knights, Reaves has played 649 regular-season games and 53 playoff games. He was part of the Vegas team that reached the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

Reaves appeared in a video on the team Twitter feed to make the announcement of his contract extension.

“There’s two things I haven’t accomplished: No. 1 haven’t won a Stanley Cup, No. 2 haven’t won a scoring title,” Reaves said. “Now, I can win a Stanley Cup this year. I can do it. Can’t win the scoring title. Can’t do it. Just missed it by a couple points. And I also can’t do it next year if I don’t have a contract. So I am happy to announce that I just signed a two-year extension with your Vegas Golden Knights.”

Reaves (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) is one of the most physically feared players in the NHL, and as he tongue in cheek put it (as if it wasn’t clear) he’s not a prolific scorer. He had never averaged even nine minutes of ice time per game before arriving in Vegas. But he has become a solid piece of a pretty good team, with some security in his pocket now.