To say that the 2022-23 season was frustrating for Mike Reilly would be an understatement. The veteran defenseman spent most of the season with the Boston Bruins American Hockey League (AHL) club, the Providence Bruins. Friday (June 30), the Bruins placed him on waivers to buy out his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent (UFA) (from ‘Bruins place Mike Reilly on waivers and plan to buy out the remainder of his contract, Boston Globe, June 30, 2023). Saturday, the Florida Panthers is giving him a fresh start.
Florida signed Reilly to a one-year, $1 million contract and it gives the Panthers some offensive depth on the backend after their run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
Reilly’s Up and Down Tenure With Boston
Needing help on defense at the trade deadline in 2021, the Bruins acquired Reilly from the Ottawa Senators for a third–round 2022 Entry Draft pick. In 15 regular season games, he had eight assists, then saw his production drop to four assists in 11 playoff games. Boston re-signed him to a three-year contract for $9 million that summer, but he struggled in 2021-22 with four goals and 13 points in 70 games, but it was struggling to turn the puck over and making bad decisions in the defensive end that had him miss some time in the playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Prior to last season, the Bruins placed him on waivers before Opening Night, but he went unclaimed and played in only 10 games before being sent down to Providence in November for the rest of the season. A veteran of 339 games over nine seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Senators, and Bruins, it was not surprising that Bruins general manager (GM) Don Sweeney went the route he did in buying out Reilly’s final season.
Reilly’s Fit With the Panthers
A fresh start will do Reilly some good and the Panthers are getting a blueliner that when he’s playing well, adds a sneaky-good offensive game. The 29-year-old is a good puck-moving defenseman who is strong in defensive zone breakouts, plays well 5-on-5, and is a player that can provide some key penalty-killing minutes.
Related: 2023 NHL Free Agency Tracker
Reilly joins a defense that lost Radko Gudas earlier in the day in free agency when he signed with the Anaheim Ducks. Reilly is not going to replace his physicality, but he’s going to give coach Paul Maurice more offense from the backend as he can play in all situations and be a good second-unit power-play defenseman on a team that still has a lot of talent with the man advantage. This could end up being one of the more under-the-radar free-agent additions this summer on a very good average annual value (AAV).
