Reimer shares unfiltered thoughts on Toronto and Matthews stealing his number.

The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised many this week when they announced that they had signed veteran goaltender James Reimer to a professional tryout offer. The decision to sign Reimer came fresh off the heels of a leave of absence from goaltender Joseph Woll, with the Reimer addition making a ton of sense due to his familiarity with the organization.

Reimer previously spent 6 seasons with the Maple Leafs in the early stages of his career and now comes back with over 500 games in the National Hockey League under his belt.

Playing in the Toronto market isn't always for everyone though, and Reimer was asked to share his feelings on coming back to such a high pressure hockey market.

"It's the greatest game on earth in the greatest city to play the game," said Reimer. "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."

While there are a lot of differences from when Reimer last played for the Maple Leafs during the 2015-16 NHL season, perhaps the biggest difference is that his number is now owned and occupied by Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews.

When he was asked whether or not he had a conversation with Matthews, Reimer responded by saying the two men were going to fight for the number.

"We had a little bit of a tussle, and we kind of figured that probably Monday, in practice, we'll have a bout at centre," revealed Reimer. "Winner takes the number."

While I don't think the Maple Leafs are prepared to sanction such a bout, I think my money would have to be on Reimer. Thankfully for Auston Matthews I don't think there's any chance of this actually happening, nor do I believe even for a second that Reimer is going to make a fuss about his number.

Reimer is winning fans in front of the cameras and microphones, but it still remains to be seen how he will perform in his second stint with the Maple Leafs.