VHN Daily: Ryan Reaves knew he’d be a Ranger; Stone’s ‘Snakes In A Pool’ saga

Ryan Reaves had a hunch he’d one day be skating regularly in Madison Square Garden. Sure enough, Reaves is a member of the New York Rangers and he has taken it upon himself to not only be the enforcer the Broadway Blueshirts desperately need, he also wants to help change the culture in the locker room.

““It doesn’t matter what happened last year, doesn’t matter what happened 10 years ago, it’s what happens this season, and everybody is going to be held accountable when they go up against our team.” Reaves told Mollie Walker of the New York Post.

That Reaves is reunited with Gerard Gallant, his coach when both were with the Vegas Golden Knights, doesn’t hurt. He is expected to be on the Rangers’ fourth line, a role he had with Gallant and later with Peter DeBoer, in Vegas.

DeBoer said Reaves will be missed at T-Mobile rena.

“Reavo had a strong presence for us, both on the ice and in the dressing room,” DeBoer said of Raves who was acquired by Vegas at the 2018 trade deadline. “He was a very important part of our organization for a long time.

Back in Vegas, it turns out that Reaves was the target of a prank initiated by Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner, who admitted on Twitter that his digging snake holes in the backyard of Mark Stone’s house was designed to lure a snake out to surprise Reaves.

The plan was hatched during an end-of-season party at Stone’s Summerlin home while Reaves was still a member of the Golden Knights. No snakes were found that night. But Stone said a week later, five snakes were found in his backyard pool.  

Around the NHL …

Sportsnet.ca: There was good news for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators when the province of Ontario Friday raised capacity in the team’s arenas to 50% after capacity was capped at 1,000. That’s a significant jump.

From the National Hockey Now Network …

PhillyHockeyNow: Ryan Gilbert was there for Kevin Hayes’ emotional training camp presser Friday when he thanked everyone who supported him and his family in the wake of his brother Jimmy’s death last month. 

BostonHockeyNow: Brad Marchand says he’s not going away anytime soon and plans to play as long as he can. Colleague Joe Haggerty has that gem and others in his Bruins links. 

SanJoseHockeyNow: Tomas Hertl just wants to play hockey. The popular Sharks forward will be a UFA at season’s end and he told Sheng Peng that he doesn’t want his future to be a distraction to the present. 

ColoradoHockeyNow: For a while, Erik Johnson was better known for his racehorses than his hockey. The veteran defenseman is trying to change that narrative. But can he? Terry Frei discusses what exactly will Johnson’s role be with the Avalanche?

VancouverHockeyNow: The Canucks have some key missing pieces in their training camp with RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes still unsigned and coach Travis Green admitted to our Rob Simpson that it is not an ideal situation. 

PittsburghHockeyNow: The Penguins don’t have a lot of roster spots open, but Dan Kingerski says 20-year-old forward Nathan Legare may have what it takes to make the Pens out of training camp. He appears to be off to a good start.

NYIHockeyNow: The Islanders are in no rush to get captain Anders Lee back in games. Lee suffered a season-ending knee injury back in March and Christian Arnold reports that Lee may be held out of the Isles first few preseason games.