What does 38-year-old Ryan Reaves add to the San Jose Sharks?

For one, Reaves brings a certain volume and energy to the Sharks locker room that wasn’t quite there last season, aside from Mario Ferraro.

“Won’t be that quiet this year,” Reaves declared. “I’m definitely not a quiet person.”

Reaves also acknowledged that he’s not exactly beloved by San Jose Sharks fans. But he’s hoping he’s able to get Sharks fans on his side.

“I hope so, because I’m sure they don’t love me very much. So hopefully they do now.”

Touching on the current captain-less state of the Sharks, Reaves added that a locker room is better with a captain “if you have the right captain.”

Reaves also talked about Macklin Celebrini, his first day at training camp, and his past experiences.

On the first day of training camp with coach Ryan Warsofsky…

My booty is a little sore today. (laughs) It was a tough skate, but the message was very clear starting today [that] this is going to be a competitive team, and we’re going to work and we’re going to outcompete teams. You saw it in practice today. There was a lot of competitive drills, one-on-ones, two-on-two’s, small area games, things that are going to get us ready for the season.

On Macklin Celebrini…

I don’t think he gets enough respect, that’s for sure. I watched him play last year. He’s up there with some of those guys, if not better than some of those guys that people put ahead of him. He works hard. He plays the right way. He plays hard. You can see it just in the five-on-five, four-on-four skates that we had before camp. I expect him to have a big year, just like I’m sure he does.

On his role with the San Jose Sharks and making sure Celebrini and other young players have space on the ice…

Yes, have some space out there. Have fun. If you need somebody to talk to, I’ve been through everything in this league. I’ve seen a lot. Just for anybody, though, not just him. But I hope guys feel comfortable coming to me with anything they need. And I think that’s part of the reason I’m here.

Just being loud on the bench, making sure that somebody goes after those guys, that I’m going after them, and having conversations and sticking up for them when I need to, playing physical. When I play physical, it opens up room for everybody else. Everybody’s looking a little more over the shoulder. And when those top guys get on the ice, or maybe I’m out there, not with them, but maybe they think I am, and it’ll open up some room for them. But just knowing the repercussions of going after our top guys, knowing that there are repercussions, is part of the reason.

On proving he still belongs in the NHL…

I wanted to do that last year. I think the fit wasn’t right, maybe they just didn’t see the fit for me there. There was a lot of valleys, not a lot of peaks last year. So I’m fired up. I want to come here, I want to help, I want to prove I got another year or two left in me. You want to help change the course of this franchise. I look forward to the opportunity.

On a better fit with the San Jose Sharks now…

I’ve never had a good year out east for some reason. I’ve had okay parts of seasons, but I’ve always liked being in the West a lot more. So I’m glad I landed out here.

On Sharks Ice renovations…

This is a nice locker room – one of the nicer ones I’ve been to now. It’s a little bit of a maze. I’m  still trying get used to it. But no, it’s top of the line for sure.

On teams he’s played for in the past that remind him of this year’s San Jose Sharks…

When I went to New York, they had been going through a little bit too, but at the same time, they had a lot of really good players. That year I got there, we ended up going to the Conference Final. So, anything can happen through a season. The first year in Vegas, that team was made up of guys that teams just didn’t want them, and they let them go, and we went to the Final. So anything’s possible if you have the right chemistry, the right pieces, and everybody really wants to go to war for each other on the ice, and everybody loves each other off the ice. Crazier things can happen.

On Ferraro’s volume compared to his…

Just a just a notch under me, I think.

See the whole interview here