Reaves has ‘warning’ for old pals with Blues

Ryan Reaves talked to some of his former St. Louis teammates in advance of the Penguins season opener against the Blues Wednesday night. And he had a message for them.

“Told every one of them to keep their head up,” Reaves said with a grin Wednesday morning.

Just starting the year with a new team after seven years in one organization would be strange, but Reaves had the added factor of going up against the team that drafted him in 2005.

“It's going to be fun, it's going to weird, it's going to be different,” Reaves said before the game. “But, yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

Reaves played 419 games over seven seasons with the Blues from 2010-17 and became a fan favorite during his time in St. Louis. The Penguins acquired Reaves in a draft night trade in June.

“Seven years, you build a fan base and you start to love the city and love the fans there,” Reaves said. “It’s just part of the business.”

Reaves admitted the strange feelings were tempered somewhat by the fact that the Penguins faced St. Louis in the preseason, and he was in the lineup for that game.

“I think that first exhibition game kind of got a little bit of the emotion out of the way," Reaves said.

Facelift for penalty kill

One of the Penguins’ big tasks this season will be replacing the penalty-killing production of Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen, both of whom left via free agency this offseason.

Carter Rowney and Scott Wilson figure to pick up a good deal of the slack, and Reaves could be in the mix eventually, too. He saw some time on the penalty kill this preseason.

“Definitely still working on it, been trying to get used to the new systems here first then work into the PK,” Reaves said.

McKegg steps in

Greg McKegg started training camp as a bit of a long shot to make the opening-night roster, but he was the third-line center when the puck dropped against St. Louis.

Part of that is because general manager Jim Rutherford hasn’t found a suitable trade for a player to fill that role, but McKegg also has done his part to earn the job for now.

“We’re excited about watching his game grow and develop, how he can fit into this group,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve certainly cast him in a certain role that we think can play to his strengths and we’ll wait and see. He’s certainly had a really, really strong training camp .”

Providing some help

The Penguins announced Wednesday they are donating $25,000 to support victims and first responders at the mass shooting Sunday night in Las Vegas.

The team also has set up a website to donate to victims and first responders through the Penguins Foundation in the aftermath of the shooting, in which 59 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. The team also is donating $25,000 to support relief efforts in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

“The Penguins support this very important effort by the Pirates to assist the people of Puerto Rico,” Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse said in a statement.

“We ask our fans, and sports fans everywhere, to join in this major humanitarian cause.”