Mike Reilly

By William Espy

We’ll start with a bit of background for those who may not know much about Reilly. Mike Reilly was born in Chicago, Illinois 21 years ago. He was drafted in the 4^th round of the 2011 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now that 4 years have passed since he was drafted, he is set to become an unrestricted free agent on June 16, 2015. In order to speed up the process, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen and president of hockey operations John Davidson have allowed Reilly to begin interviews with teams early. The nine teams with interviews set up at the combine are:
Chicago Blackhawks

Columbus Blue Jackets

Detroit Red Wings

Edmonton Oilers

Los Angeles Kings

Minnesota Wild

Montreal Canadiens

New York Rangers

And the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now many people are likely asking why this relatively unknown (until recently) former 4^th round pick is gaining so much interest. In the year prior to being drafted, Reilly posted 14 points in 37 games for the University of Minnesota. That explains the main reason why he was selected in the mid-rounds, he didn’t seem like he’d turn into a top player. This past season however, the defenseman posted 42 points in 39 games while also being a +25. Many analysts have said that if this was his draft year, he’d undoubtedly be a first round selection. While there are nine teams that are interested in him, he has only showed interest in three so far.

First, Columbus:

 Columbus is the team that was willing to take a chance on him in the draft even though at the time most teams thought he was too small to do anything at the professional level. Since then, he has added 30 pounds to his frame and is now 6’1” and 183 pounds. Even though he passed on signing while the Jackets owned his rights, he is adamant that he still highly considers Columbus as an option. Reilly also played under CBJ head coach Todd Richards at the IIHF World Championships

Next, Minnesota:

Minnesota is mostly where Reilly grew up. He attended Shattuck St. Mary’s for a year and attended college at the University of Minnesota. His father is also a minority owner of the Wild, so family ties will likely influence his choice if he does decide to don the red and green.

Finally Chicago:
Chicago is Reilly’s hometown and on various occasions he has hinted that it is his preferred destination. They have a very solid, but for the most part, aging corps. They currently could not afford him, even on an entry level deal, due to their tight cap issue but that is likely to change. All of this, on top of Chicago’s success in recent history makes it seem like a top destination for any player.

While there are other teams who are interviewing Reilly, it is unknown how much interest he actually has in them. It’ll be interesting to see where this situation leads, either way it goes Blue Jackets management and fans will be glad the situation is over.