diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a23afc6fd..44ee12ae3 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4773,6 +4773,7 @@ name = "reth-tasks"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "futures-util",
+ "thiserror",
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-futures",
diff --git a/crates/net/network/src/session/mod.rs b/crates/net/network/src/session/mod.rs
index 07d785706..d5201246e 100644
--- a/crates/net/network/src/session/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/net/network/src/session/mod.rs
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ impl SessionManager {
         F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
     {
         if let Some(ref executor) = self.executor {
-            executor.spawn(async move { f.await })
+            executor.spawn(async move { f.await });
         } else {
             tokio::task::spawn(async move { f.await });
         }
diff --git a/crates/tasks/Cargo.toml b/crates/tasks/Cargo.toml
index 4fecc9e3b..03beb9f03 100644
--- a/crates/tasks/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/tasks/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ tokio = { version = "1", features = ["sync", "rt"] }
 tracing-futures = "0.2"
 tracing = { version = "0.1", default-features = false }
 futures-util = "0.3"
+thiserror = "1.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["sync", "rt", "rt-multi-thread", "time", "macros"] }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/tasks/src/lib.rs b/crates/tasks/src/lib.rs
index dafcbc668..0f80b027a 100644
--- a/crates/tasks/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/tasks/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,14 +8,15 @@
 //! reth task management
 
 use crate::shutdown::{signal, Shutdown, Signal};
-use futures_util::{future::select, pin_mut, Future, FutureExt, Stream};
+use futures_util::{future::select, pin_mut, Future, FutureExt};
 use std::{
     pin::Pin,
-    task::{Context, Poll},
+    task::{ready, Context, Poll},
 };
 use tokio::{
     runtime::Handle,
     sync::mpsc::{unbounded_channel, UnboundedReceiver, UnboundedSender},
+    task::JoinHandle,
 };
 use tracing::error;
 use tracing_futures::Instrument;
@@ -40,9 +41,9 @@ pub struct TaskManager {
     /// See [`Handle`] docs.
     handle: Handle,
     /// Sender half for sending panic signals to this type
-    panicked_tasks_tx: UnboundedSender<String>,
+    panicked_tasks_tx: UnboundedSender<&'static str>,
     /// Listens for panicked tasks
-    panicked_tasks_rx: UnboundedReceiver<String>,
+    panicked_tasks_rx: UnboundedReceiver<&'static str>,
     /// The [Signal] to fire when all tasks should be shutdown.
     ///
     /// This is fired on drop.
@@ -72,17 +73,23 @@ impl TaskManager {
     }
 }
 
-/// A stream that yields the name of panicked tasks.
+/// An endless future that resolves if a critical task panicked.
 ///
 /// See [`TaskExecutor::spawn_critical`]
-impl Stream for TaskManager {
-    type Item = String;
+impl Future for TaskManager {
+    type Output = PanickedTaskError;
 
-    fn poll_next(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Option<Self::Item>> {
-        self.get_mut().panicked_tasks_rx.poll_recv(cx)
+    fn poll(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
+        let err = ready!(self.get_mut().panicked_tasks_rx.poll_recv(cx));
+        Poll::Ready(err.map(PanickedTaskError).expect("stream can not end"))
     }
 }
 
+/// Error with the name of the task that panicked.
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+#[error("Critical task panicked {0}")]
+pub struct PanickedTaskError(&'static str);
+
 /// A type that can spawn new tokio tasks
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct TaskExecutor {
@@ -93,16 +100,38 @@ pub struct TaskExecutor {
     /// Receiver of the shutdown signal.
     on_shutdown: Shutdown,
     /// Sender half for sending panic signals to this type
-    panicked_tasks_tx: UnboundedSender<String>,
+    panicked_tasks_tx: UnboundedSender<&'static str>,
 }
 
 // === impl TaskExecutor ===
 
 impl TaskExecutor {
-    /// Spawns the task onto the runtime.
-    ///
-    /// See also [`Handle::spawn`].
-    pub fn spawn<F>(&self, fut: F)
+    /// Returns the [Handle] to the tokio runtime.
+    pub fn handle(&self) -> &Handle {
+        &self.handle
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the receiver of the shutdown signal.
+    pub fn on_shutdown_signal(&self) -> &Shutdown {
+        &self.on_shutdown
+    }
+
+    /// Spawns a future on the tokio runtime depending on the [TaskKind]
+    fn spawn_on_rt<F>(&self, fut: F, task_kind: TaskKind) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        match task_kind {
+            TaskKind::Default => self.handle.spawn(fut),
+            TaskKind::Blocking => {
+                let handle = self.handle.clone();
+                self.handle.spawn_blocking(move || handle.block_on(fut))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Spawns a regular task depending on the given [TaskKind]
+    fn spawn_task_as<F>(&self, fut: F, task_kind: TaskKind) -> JoinHandle<()>
     where
         F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
     {
@@ -114,13 +143,54 @@ impl TaskExecutor {
         }
         .in_current_span();
 
-        self.handle.spawn(task);
+        self.spawn_on_rt(task, task_kind)
     }
 
-    /// This spawns a critical task onto the runtime.
+    /// Spawns the task onto the runtime.
+    /// The given future resolves as soon as the [Shutdown] signal is received.
     ///
-    /// If this task panics, the [`TaskManager`] is notified.
-    pub fn spawn_critical<F>(&self, name: &'static str, fut: F)
+    /// See also [`Handle::spawn`].
+    pub fn spawn<F>(&self, fut: F) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        self.spawn_task_as(fut, TaskKind::Default)
+    }
+
+    /// Spawns a blocking task onto the runtime.
+    /// The given future resolves as soon as the [Shutdown] signal is received.
+    ///
+    /// See also [`Handle::spawn_blocking`].
+    pub fn spawn_blocking<F>(&self, fut: F) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        self.spawn_task_as(fut, TaskKind::Blocking)
+    }
+
+    /// Spawns the task onto the runtime.
+    /// The given future resolves as soon as the [Shutdown] signal is received.
+    ///
+    /// See also [`Handle::spawn`].
+    pub fn spawn_with_signal<F>(&self, f: impl FnOnce(Shutdown) -> F) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        let on_shutdown = self.on_shutdown.clone();
+        let fut = f(on_shutdown);
+
+        let task = fut.in_current_span();
+
+        self.handle.spawn(task)
+    }
+
+    /// Spawns a critical task depending on the given [TaskKind]
+    fn spawn_critical_as<F>(
+        &self,
+        name: &'static str,
+        fut: F,
+        task_kind: TaskKind,
+    ) -> JoinHandle<()>
     where
         F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
     {
@@ -132,28 +202,86 @@ impl TaskExecutor {
             .catch_unwind()
             .map(move |res| {
                 error!("Critical task `{name}` panicked: {res:?}");
-                let _ = panicked_tasks_tx.send(name.to_string());
+                let _ = panicked_tasks_tx.send(name);
             })
             .in_current_span();
 
-        self.handle.spawn(async move {
+        let task = async move {
             pin_mut!(task);
             let _ = select(on_shutdown, task).await;
-        });
+        };
+
+        self.spawn_on_rt(task, task_kind)
     }
+
+    /// This spawns a critical blocking task onto the runtime.
+    /// The given future resolves as soon as the [Shutdown] signal is received.
+    ///
+    /// If this task panics, the [`TaskManager`] is notified.
+    pub fn spawn_critical_blocking<F>(&self, name: &'static str, fut: F) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        self.spawn_critical_as(name, fut, TaskKind::Blocking)
+    }
+
+    /// This spawns a critical task onto the runtime.
+    /// The given future resolves as soon as the [Shutdown] signal is received.
+    ///
+    /// If this task panics, the [`TaskManager`] is notified.
+    pub fn spawn_critical<F>(&self, name: &'static str, fut: F) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        self.spawn_critical_as(name, fut, TaskKind::Default)
+    }
+
+    /// This spawns a critical task onto the runtime.
+    ///
+    /// If this task panics, the [`TaskManager`] is notified.
+    pub fn spawn_critical_with_signal<F>(
+        &self,
+        name: &'static str,
+        f: impl FnOnce(Shutdown) -> F,
+    ) -> JoinHandle<()>
+    where
+        F: Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static,
+    {
+        let panicked_tasks_tx = self.panicked_tasks_tx.clone();
+        let on_shutdown = self.on_shutdown.clone();
+        let fut = f(on_shutdown);
+
+        // wrap the task in catch unwind
+        let task = std::panic::AssertUnwindSafe(fut)
+            .catch_unwind()
+            .map(move |res| {
+                error!("Critical task `{name}` panicked: {res:?}");
+                let _ = panicked_tasks_tx.send(name);
+            })
+            .in_current_span();
+
+        self.handle.spawn(task)
+    }
+}
+
+/// Determines how a task is spawned
+enum TaskKind {
+    /// Spawn the task to the default executor [Handle::spawn]
+    Default,
+    /// Spawn the task to the blocking executor [Handle::spawn_blocking]
+    Blocking,
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
-    use futures_util::StreamExt;
     use std::time::Duration;
 
     #[test]
     fn test_critical() {
         let runtime = tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().unwrap();
         let handle = runtime.handle().clone();
-        let mut manager = TaskManager::new(handle);
+        let manager = TaskManager::new(handle);
         let executor = manager.executor();
 
         executor.spawn_critical(
@@ -162,8 +290,8 @@ mod tests {
         );
 
         runtime.block_on(async move {
-            let panicked_task = manager.next().await.unwrap();
-            assert_eq!(panicked_task, "this is a critical task");
+            let err = manager.await;
+            assert_eq!(err.0, "this is a critical task");
         })
     }