[hide] The St. Louis Blues protected tough guy Ryan Reaves out of fear that the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to workout a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights.

But every team has a price and the Penguins have paid one for Reaves.

Pittsburgh has traded the 31st overall pick and center Oskar Sundqvist to St. Louis for Reaves and the 51st overall pick.

Rutherford will likely get crushed for the cost but mission accomplished in adding a tough guy who can actually play.

Reaves, 30, carries a $1.125 million cap hit and is signed for one more season. He had a career high 7 goals in 16-17 and added 104 penalty minutes.

What the Penguins like about him is that he can skate for a big guy. [/hide]

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