It was the second game for the new guys in Boston last night. Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, and Mike Reilly have fit in nicely so far with the Boston Bruins. Hall scored his first goal last night in the 4-1 win against the New York Islanders, but fans couldn’t seem to stop talking about Reilly, the newest defenseman.
Asked Bruce Cassidy about Mike Reilly's impact so far on the blue line.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 16, 2021
"Boy, he's a nice find for us."
Coach Cassidy praised Reilly right after the game. It’s true that the Bruins lost a lot when Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug left. However, GM Don Sweeney was quick to act on the defensive hole at the trade deadline.
When the news broke that Reilly had been acquired from the Ottawa Senators, a lot of eyebrows raised. He wasn’t a big name like Mattias Ekholm, who is a player a lot of people expected would help the Bruins tremendously. It turns out that Reilly has been a sneaky good pickup that nobody really saw coming.
Reilly is phenomenal at moving and shooting the puck. In general, he’s an offensive defenseman who can put up points, whether they are goals or assists. That was Krug’s biggest asset to the team – he would defend, but he would also score.
Mike Reilly, acquired by BOS, is a quite effective offensive defenceman who has had pretty remarkable underlying results since joining the Ottawa Senators. His transition skills are strong, awesome offence-driving and primary assist rates too. #LetsGoBruins pic.twitter.com/4K8TnOHBmX
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) April 12, 2021
Reilly picked up 19 assists in 40 games for the Senators this season. He has one assist for the Bruins so far, which came during last night’s game against the Islanders. While he may not be a big name in the league, he flies under the radar and that’s exactly what the Bruins needed at this time in the season.
Overall, Reilly was a steal. He carries a cap hit of $1.5 million. For reference, Krug currently costs the St. Louis Blues $6.5 million in cap space. Even when Krug played for the Bruins, he cost them $5.25 million annually.
It’s looking promising that Reilly can become just what the Bruins were looking for to make a deep playoff run this summer.