When the Minnesota Wild signed former University of Minnesota defenseman Mike Reilly last summer, it was thought right away that he could make the Minnesota roster right out of training camp. With Reilly getting close and spending a little under half the season in the NHL, many are wondering if Reilly will be up with the big club full-time this season.
It took just ten days last summer for the Minnesota Wild to convince free agent and departing Gophers defenseman Mike Reilly to sign his first NHL contract with the home town Wild. The Chanhssen native was unable to come to an agreement with the team that drafted him the Columbus Blue Jackets and thus became a free agent able to sign with whatever team he decided to. With no shortage of suitors for the Hobey Baker finalist, Reilly had his virtual pick of the NHL to sign with.
In the end though he opted to stay in the Twin Cities and signed with the Wild. Reilly explained his reason for signing with the Wild to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune last summer saying “When it came down to it, and doing my homework on each team, this just felt right. The last few days, just me sleeping on it, it just felt right here.”
There was a buzz and excitement for Reilly’s arrival and it seemed from the start many had already started to wonder if the Talented Mr. Reilly could make the Wild’s opening roster out of training camp. With a strong camp he impressed the Wild coaches so much that he made it to the final cut down before being assigned to Iowa to start the season.
Reilly would go on to play 29 games for Minnesota and 45 for Iowa in 2015-16. He showed flashes of brilliance in his NHL starts, but at the same time reminded us that he had some seasoning left if he was to become an everyday NHL talent. Still everyone couldn’t help but feel that it was only a short time before Reilly would make that jump to a full season with Minnesota.
Reilly still has a lot of development left to do. The question is if that should be at the NHL or AHL level. Signs point to Reilly having a season much like he did in last season where he spent a little over half the season in Iowa and the other time in Minnesota. A look at his stats from last season will point you to that conclusion.
First and most importantly, Reilly’s puck possession numbers need to improve dramatically. He finished the year with a Corsi of 46.2% and a Fenwick of 47.7%, which shows that when Reilly is on the ice the Wild possessed the puck less than 50% of the time which is really the benchmark for these two stats. Mix that with the fact that Reilly was a minus 4 in his 29 NHL games, it leads you to believe that Reilly is a defensive liability largely attributed to his positioning and instincts in the defensive zone.
Billed as an offensive defenseman, Reilly really didn’t produce much offense in the NHL. In 29 NHL games last season, he only scored 1 goal and tallied only 6 assists for 7 points. That could be a product of the defense first system of the Wild, but when you factor that with his stats from his last year with the University of Minnesota when he had 42 points it can be said he has more potential to score points and needs to work to realize it at the NHL level.
Finally, it should be noted that Reilly was Iowa’s top scoring defenseman despite only playing 45 games in the AHL. Playing well in your first season as a professional in any league is a great sign. That success will do a player a great service as it helps to build their confidence. It also shows that Reilly should be getting time in the NHL to see if he’s indeed ready.
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Training camp in September will complete the narrative as well, but for now it seems that Mike Reilly will most likely spend next season between Iowa and Minnesota. With so many NHL ready defenseman in the Wild system already there’s no real reason to rush Reilly’s development. If he can continue to sharpen his game in the AHL, while periodically testing his NHL potential, it shouldn’t take Reilly very long to make it onto the Minnesota roster full-time. As Reilly explained to Russo last offseason he’s just got to “take it step by step to learn the pro game and be confident.”