Mike Reilly Traded to Montreal
Minnesota made their only move at the trade deadline, trading defenseman Mike Reilly to Montreal for a fifth round pick in 2019.
Mike Reilly had 10 points (2 goals and 8 assists) in his 38 games in a Wild sweater, but it was the defensive side of his game that was always an issue and with Olofsson and the emergence of Seeler, it was a move that had to be made.
Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher added a personal spin to it in the following quote, but business is business at the end of the day.
“I think we all felt that it would work better than what it did, and that’s not a reflection on him at all. We were fortunate to get him, but I think at some point it’s important to do the right thing, too. If it’s not going to work here, we needed to give him a chance to get his career going.”
Clearing Reilly from the books means that his $725,000 cap hit has now been freed and most importantly, it allows a roster spot for someone within the organisation to most likely step up. That's all that mattered.
“From our standpoint, our goals were pretty modest in large part because we like the way our team’s been playing the last little while. To pay big prices right now, from a salary cap perspective, it wasn’t possible to get involved in some of the players.”
After last year's big deadline day move for Hanzal didn't work out, let's hope that the chemistry the Wild have started to show keeps up into the playoffs.
Chris Stewart Claimed off Waivers by Calgary
After being placed on waivers yesterday, winger Chris Stewart was immediately claimed by Calgary in a move that it now sounds like was always going to happen.
In a move that had to happen to free up cap and roster space for the return of Kunin and to ensure Greenway can sign when he is done with Boston University, it still hurts the fans and dressing room as you can hear in Boudreau's voice when asked about Stewie.
“I was really happy. Quite frankly, we pretty well knew he was going to get picked up. He’s too good a person, too good a teammate for nothing to happen to him. Calgary got better with him.”
Stewart had fallen out of favour, finding himself as the healthy scratch 12 times since January alone, while the limited ice time he got was limited to a fourth line role.
Even with the limited role he found himself playing, Stewart still managed 13 points (9 goals, 4 assists) in 47 games with the Wild this season.
But as you hear from Parise here, Chris Stewart was more than just a fourth liner, he was the glue that held the dressing room together.
“Just a lot of energy. Just a good guy. He brings a lot of life into the room, onto the bench, and onto the ice. That’s tough to replace.”
Let's hope it doesn't fall apart...
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I thought the Wild made a huge mistake last season by breaking up a team on a roll. Sitting tight is the right move.
Hopefully for Montreal, Reilly will be an upgrade over Schlemko, Morrow, Benn...
Reilly has always had plenty of upside. He's already great when he steps up into the offense. He just needs to work on some of his defensive brain fades.
Hopefully for him, and Montreal, a new angle of coaching can help with this.