Just a few days after Ryan Reaves stood up for Mitch Marner’s move to Vegas, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided it was time to move on. In a one-for-one trade with the San Jose Sharks, the Leafs shipped out the veteran enforcer and brought in 24-year-old defenseman Henry Thrun. The deal was quietly finalized Thursday night.
Leafs Make Cap-Savvy Defensive Upgrade With Henry Thrun Trade
With pressure mounting after another underwhelming playoff run, Toronto’s front office seems focused on making smarter, cleaner roster decisions. Shedding Reaves’ contract opens up a bit of breathing room. And in return, they get a younger player who might still have room to grow into something more.
TRADE: We’ve acquired defenceman Henry Thrun from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Ryan Reaves pic.twitter.com/dZKTlDwXGP
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 11, 2025
Interestingly, the trade came not long after Reaves made headlines on The Cam & Strick Podcast, where he publicly backed Marner amid online backlash from Leafs fans. “Mitchie earned the right to go wherever he wants,” he said, adding that Marner had given everything to Toronto.
Whether that support played any part in his departure is unclear, but the timing raised some eyebrows.
Young Defenseman Brings Low-Cost Upside to Toronto’s Depth Chart
Henry Thrun enters the picture with 119 NHL games under his belt, all with the Sharks. Last season, he posted 12 points across 60 games while averaging just over 17 minutes a night. On paper, his numbers don’t leap off the page as his career plus-minus sits at -48, but context matters. San Jose wasn’t exactly a fortress.
Originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2019, Thrun developed at Harvard, where he nearly scored at a point-per-game pace. The offensive instincts are there, even if they haven’t shown up at the NHL level yet. The Leafs are banking on a more structured environment to bring out his best.
Toronto’s blue line is crowded. With names like Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and Simon Benoit already penciled in on the left side, Thrun’s path to a full-time role isn’t clear. But at just $1 million for one year, the Leafs aren’t taking much of a gamble here.
Reaves, meanwhile, didn’t offer much on the ice beyond toughness. In 84 total games for Toronto, he scored just four goals and recorded eight points. The team even waived him toward the end of last season. His three-year, $4.05 million deal had started to feel like a weight.
Now with Thrun on the roster, Toronto has eight NHL-ready defensemen. It wouldn’t be surprising if another move followed before the season gets going.
Even if Thrun ends up in the AHL, the Leafs cleared cap space and gave themselves a shot at unlocking a serviceable defenseman with upside. For a player they weren’t using anyway, that’s a smart bit of business.
