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Is Mike Reilly Leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets?

By Chris McLafferty

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Apr 10, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Gophers defenseman Mike Reilly (5) (5) is checked by North Dakota Sioux defenseman Nick Mattson (5) and defenseman Andrew Panzarella (22) during the first period in the semifinals of the Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday Aaron Portzline tried clarifying the ongoing will he/won’t he for D Mike Reilly that seems more agonizing than when Jim Halper played the game with Pam Beasley. The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted Reilly with the 98th pick in the 2011 draft. At that time he decided to play for the British Columbia Hockey League for a year before it was off to college at the University of Minnesota. Interesting enough, Reilly’s father, Michael J. Reilly is a minority partner of the Minnesota Wild. So little Mikey decided to play close to Big Mike.

He struggled a bit his freshman year but has exploded these last 2 seasons, especially this season where he posted over a point a game, 42 points in 39 games, a staggering number for a defender. It’s not just offensively that has made this kid pop. He shows great instincts and speed, while being praised for a striking shot and solid ability to force the puck away from open shots, whether that be through positioning or throwing his own body in the line of fire.

The Jackets’ still own the rights to him but those rights come with an expiration date.

Essentially we have 30 days to sign him from when he leaves school. Many believe that if he was going to sign, he would have done so immediately following the end of this Golden Gopher season, which was March 27th. If we don’t, he has the ability to sign with any team…with a caveat. Caveat being if he signs elsewhere, “No team can offer him more money, as even if Reilly goes the UFA route this summer, he’s still bound to the entry-level contract system,” according to CBS Sports. They go on to say, “meaning Reilly would be able to become a restricted free agent as early as 2016 if he burned a year by playing this season.” Which is why the red flags are raising around Columbus like Communism just invaded.

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He could have very easily burned a year playing the tail end of the season for the Jackets, especially the injury depleted, James Wisniewski-less blueline Jackets. Meaning he would be closer to getting all “the straight cash homie” he could ever want. But he didn’t, which tends to sway beliefs to the idea that he just really doesn’t want to be in Columbus or that he’s returning back to school (though this is a very unlikely pathway…a pathway nonetheless)

If not Columbus, then where? Many have tied him to staying near daddy with the Minnesota Wild and another, a bit random, potential suitor…The Chicago Blackhawks.  

So what options do the Jackets have with this kid? They really have two. One is to keep trying to sign him though I’m not sure what will change after these 3 years, especially after not playing this season. Maybe he’s torn between going back to school or finally entering the NHL. A team bond is a tough thing to leave, especially knowing you only get four years of that and the next 10 to play in the NHL. According to reports he is still interested in the possibility of dawning the Jackets’ jersey.

The other option would be trying to trade, though who is going to want to give up something for him? Any team would be able to sign him and if they don’t think they’ll be able to sign him on the open market, why do they think he’ll sign with them before the deadline anyways. It’s essentially trading for an unrestricted free agent 10 days before he hits the open market, why do that? Maybe cap issues will pop up but that’s a very unlikely scenario and maybe the best case now for the Jackets.

Personal opinion is the kid either doesn’t know what to do or he is doing an extreme disservice to the franchise that took him. Remember kid, you were the 98th pick, all teams had their shot at you and passed…multiple times. The Jackets took a chance on you and you’ve done nothing to repay them.

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The term professionalism is very rarely used in sports anymore and it’s situations like this that shed a light on why. Being offered the opportunity to play a sport that you love for a career is a golden ticket most kids dream of. Now an organization, a roster of players like yourself, and a city who were relying on you are just left out to dry because you want to play for this team or that team or you can’t dream of being away from da-da.

It’s time to grow up and play for the team that drafted you. Want to leave at the end of your contract, by all means, but at least fill the responsibility that goes along with being a draft choice. It may not be written on paper but it’s an understanding that you should be honored a team chose you over all of the other players still available in the draft because they wanted you to represent their team. That comes with responsibility and you should honor that like they honored you when they chose you.

It’s time to step up and be a man and be the PROFESSIONAL hockey player we all think you can be…and that doesn’t mean just taking the next step to play in the NHL.

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