Reilly's possession numbers have been consistently good during his NHL career
A recent post by Harman Dayal in The Athletic caught my eye.
In his "NHL free agency: 10 best contracts signed so far" story, Dayal lists the Florida Panthers' signing of defenseman Mike Reilly among the deals that best fall under that category.
Reilly signed a one-year deal with Florida worth $1 million on July 1.
He was one of five rearguards given a new contract by the Panthers that day.
In a group featuring Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Lucas Carlsson and the deal given to Niko Mikkola, Reilly's addition didn't make a lot of waves.
But perhaps it should have.
Over the past several years of his career, whether it be in Boston, Montreal or Ottawa, Reilly's possession metrics have been excellent.
As Dayal points out in his post, Reilly playing in the AHL last season had more to with the combination of Boston having a surplus of left-shooting defenseman and Reilly having a $3 million cap hit.
Now Florida will have another solid skating defenseman who takes care of the puck and makes good decisions on zone exits.
It's a good thing, because the Panthers are also expected to have one or two rather gaping holes to fill on the back line following offseason shoulder surgery for both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour.
"He can move a puck, he can skate," Panthers General Manager Bill Zito said of Reilly on July 1. "He's a dynamic kind of two-way guy."
If Reilly continues to drive play with Florida the way he has in recent NHL seasons, he could be a sneaky good signing by Zito and co. at a time where they could really use someone on a low cap hit to step up.
When he's on top of his game, the things that Reilly does well really mesh with what Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice and defensive coach Sylvain Lefebvre ask of Florida's defensemen.
Reilly will certainly be one to keep an eye on when training camp rolls around.