Ryan Reaves scratched just before his 800th game.

It was supposed to be a big night tonight for National Hockey League veteran Ryan Reaves, but it appears his coach has a different plan in mind.

Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo has just released today's lineup for the Wild, who will be traveling to New Jersey tonight to take on the Devils, and notably absent from that lineup is the aforementioned Ryan Reaves. First, here is how the Wild's lineup looked during their morning skate:

Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello
Duhaime-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Greenway-Gaudreau-Foligno
Dewar-Steel-Reaves/Shaw

Middleton-Spurgeon
Brodin-Dumba
Merrill-Addison

While Reaves did appear to be a possibility for tonight's game during the team's morning skate, it has since been confirmed that Reaves will now be a scratch for tonight's game. While Reaves is no stranger to being scratched at times during his career, tonight may be a different story given that it would have been the 800th game of his NHL career.

Although this would have been a big game for Reaves and Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason may catch some flak as a result, it's hard to argue with his decision here. Reaves has not recorded a point since all the way back on January 17th when the Wild played the Washington Capitals, and the coach may simply be looking to motivate the 36 year old veteran at this point in the season.