Montreal Canadiens: Mike Reilly has been an impactful deadline addition

The Montreal Canadiens didn’t do much at the Trade Deadline, but Mike Reilly has been an addition that has strengthened the blue line.

It’s one thing to hope for a team to make a move at the Trade Deadline, and another thing to hope whatever player(s) they acquire play a valuable role. The common belief was that the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets came out as the big winners on February 26th with Ryan Hartman and Paul Stasny joining the fold respectively. You could argue that San Jose should be happy as well with Evander Kane having six points in as many games. However, sometimes it’s the little moves that turn out to be winning ones, and the Montreal Canadiens look to have one so far.

Although the Habs were thought to be one of the biggest sellers going into the deadline, they didn’t sell much. Tomas Plekanec was the expected move, and Marc Bergevin did well in acquiring Rinat Valiev and Kerby Rychel as well who have looked good since making the transition (even though the former is currently injured). However, the trade to acquire Mike Reilly has proven to be a good one for the Montreal Canadiens.

Reilly went from the bottom pairing on the Minnesota Wild to the top pairing here in Montreal. You could argue that it’s circumstantial with the injuries to Victor Mete and David Schlemko, but the 24-year-old has earned the promotion. It was tough not to worry if his new role with the Habs would hurt his play or not.

He saw an average of 12:21 of ice time in Minnesota and had the majority of his starts in the offensive zone. That number has jumped to 22:01 since joining the Habs and Claude Julien has trusted the young defenceman with more defensive zone starts.

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It may be important also to note that his increase in ice time is most likely because of his usage on the power play. Reilly is already up to 15:42 in total time on the man advantage which is nearly a quarter of the time he saw with the Wild in 31 fewer games.

Ignoring his offensive numbers, the additional mobility added on the blue line has been a positive as well. One thing that may take his game to the next level is if he was a little more physical. That being said, we can’t fall for the sample size trick just yet. As steady as Reilly has been, there is a chance that his play takes a significant step back.

As I mentioned earlier, Reilly’s playing the most hockey on a nightly basis that he’s seen in his entire career out of necessity. In an ideal world, Reilly is on your second or third pairing being used in a similar role as he was with the Wild. There’s no denying what his abilities have added to the team, and hopefully, when everything is said and done, he’s part of the defensive depth that takes the Montreal Canadiens out of the basement of the NHL next season.

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Are you happy with Reilly’s game? Are you convinced that this is what he is? Let us know in the comments below.