Ryan Reaves will return to the San Jose Sharks lineup on Thursday after missing the final game before the Olympic break with an upper-body injury.<\/p>\n
The veteran winger is ready to play a game after not playing since Feb. 2. Reaves told SHD that his favorite times of the year are opening night and the Stanley Cup Playoffs<\/a>, and Thursday feels close to opening night.<\/p>\n \u201cThree weeks is a long time to be away. I enjoyed the break, but it\u2019s a really exciting time of year,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cTeams are making a playoff push, and we\u2019re no different, so it\u2019s gonna be exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n For the San Jose Sharks to make the playoffs, they will need to be driven by Macklin Celebrini<\/a>. Throughout the year, Reaves has constantly shouted out the 19-year-old as one of the best players in the game. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he gets enough respect, that\u2019s for sure. I watched him play last year; he\u2019s up there with some of those [top] guys, if not better than some of those guys that people put ahead of him,\u201d Reaves said last September. \u201cHe works hard. He plays the right way. You can see it just in the 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 skates that we had before camp. I expect a big year, just like I\u2019m sure he does.\u201d<\/p>\n But now he\u2019s gone from a top talent in the league to THE top talent in the league after his performance for Team Canada<\/a> at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I was wrong. He\u2019s a top one player in the league now,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cFor him to be doing that at 19 is outrageous, so top one.\u201d<\/p>\n