Penguins A to Z: Will Reilly has a chance to prove his relevance
As the NHL prepares for a new season scheduled to start in mid-January, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 48 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.
Will Reilly
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 23
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 195 pounds
2019-20 NCAA statistics: 34 games, 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists)
Contract: First year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $806,250. Pending restricted free agent 2022.
Acquired: Seventh-round draft pick (No. 217 overall), June 24, 2017
Last season: Like most of us, life changed for Will Reilly in the spring.
When the coronavirus pandemic disrupted so many walks of life in mid-March, Reilly’s collegiate career came to an end.
About a month later, he became a professional hockey player.
After being drafted by the Penguins in 2017, Reilly, a native of Toronto, embarked on a four-year career at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI). In 139 career games for the Engineers, Reilly had 68 points (22 goals, 46 assists).
As a senior in 2019-20, Reilly served as RPI’s captain and finished second in overall scoring and first in power-play scoring with nine points (four goals, five assists).
Also a key component to RPI’s penalty kill, he led his team with 27 blocked shots. His play earned him a selection to the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s (ECAC) second team.
Before the NCAA canceled the remainder of the season March 12, Reilly led the Engineers to fourth place in the ECAC and a first-round bye in that conference’s postseason tournament.
Had the American Hockey League (AHL) season not been halted on the same day, Reilly likely would have signed an amateur tryout contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to finish the 2019-20 campaign.
On April 15, the Penguins signed Reilly to his entry-level contract.
The future: With the AHL scheduled to open play on Feb. 5, Reilly will presumably spend the season with that team and he’ll be in line to capture significant playing time.
Fellow defensive prospects such as Pierre-Olivier Joseph or veterans like Zach Trotman are candidates for the Penguins’ taxi squad, which has been mandated by the NHL due to the extraordinary circumstances the 2020-21 season will be played under.
Additionally, European blueliners Niclas Almari and Jesper Lindgren will remain in Finland and Sweden, respectively, for the duration of the regular seasons in their home countries’ leagues due to the logistical challenges of getting players from overseas into the United States during a pandemic.
That will likely lead to Reilly receiving opportunities as a first-year professional that he would otherwise not enjoy.
Reilly is the proverbial “puck-moving defenseman” as he is a strong skater capable of creating offense. And as a right-handed defenseman — a precious commodity at all levels of hockey — he is a pretty aggressive and accurate shooter. Last season, he led the Engineers with an average of 2.53 shots per contest.
As the last overall pick in the 2017 draft, Reilly will always be known as the so-called “Mr. Irrelevant.” But he’ll have a marvelous opportunity to prove he can be a relevant part of the Penguins’ future starting this season.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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