James Reimer stepped onto the ice in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey for the first time in over nine years on Saturday and the veteran NHL goaltender couldn’t stop smiling from ear-to-ear.
“I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. And so it’s been a special experience to be back here,” Reimer said one day after signing with the Leafs on a professional tryout. “A lot of memories and a lot of good emotions. And really enjoying the moment and just enjoying being back. It’s a lot of fun.”
Reimer, wearing the No. 47 he had worn with several other NHL teams, had a brand new paint job on his mask and revealed that his agent had been talking to Leafs GM Brad Treliving for a few days before they put pen to paper on the official PTO on Friday.
Treliving kept his eyes peeled on Reimer’s performance for most of Toronto’s practice on Saturday. With goaltender Joseph Woll on an indefinite leave to tend to a personal matter, Reimer could be a potential No. 3 or No. 2 option behind goaltenders Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby. It sounds like there are no promises made as to where this goes for Reimer, who rose within the Leafs ranks early in his NHL career and played the first 207 games of his 525-game career in Toronto.
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Reimer reflected on what the city and organization mean to him, through the mostly good times, while also joking about the bad.
“This is where the whole thing got going. So, yeah, it’s a special city,” Reimer said. “It’s the greatest game on earth and the greatest city to play the game. I got so many good memories. I’m sure there were some bad memories in there. I don’t remember any of them. I’m sure nobody else does either.”
Reimer’s last year in the NHL was the most difficult of his career. Limited to 24 games, Reimer started the 2024-25 season with the Buffalo Sabres but was waived before the regular season began. The Anaheim Ducks claimed Reimer, and he would go on to play two games before the Ducks waived him and Buffalo reclaimed the goaltender.
After all of the criss-crossing, Reimer certainly took time to contemplate retirement this summer.
“The way last year ended, I’m really happy with how my career has gone, and I have a lot of contentment with what I’ve done so far,” Reimer said. “Having said that, I took some time after the season to kind of feel it out and kind of see if I wanted to keep playing or not. And it became pretty clear early on in the summer that I still love the game and I still love to compete.
“And so I just ran with that feeling where if I was going to prepare myself and if the right opportunity came, then I was going to get ready to seize it and be prepared and not have prepared for it. So, yeah, I just had a lot of faith and trust that if something was going to happen, it was going to happen. So I just kept training like something was going to, and then until the time when I decided to not. And that time hadn’t come yet. So when this came, it felt like something I should jump on and see where it takes us.”
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said they haven’t figured out a plan for if the 37-year-old goaltender will get into any pre-season games, noting that the goalie has to get up to speed.
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