DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today the team has claimed defenseman Mike Reilly off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Reilly, 33, dressed in eight games for the Hurricanes this season, recorded two points (0g/2a) and averaged 12:26 of time on ice per game. Both assists came on Oct. 10. Carolina won seven of the eight games Reilly was in the lineup for.
A native of Glenview, Ill., Reilly originally joined the Hurricanes ahead of the 2025-26 season and etched his name on the Stanley Cup. He chipped in nine points (1g/8a) in 42 regular-season games and got in two Stanley Cup Playoff contests where he notched two points (0g/2a). The postseason showings were Games 1 and 2 of the Second Round, and he picked up both helpers in Game 1.
The 6-foot-2, 191-pound defenseman has accumulated 135 career points (19g/116a) in 468 regular-season games with the Hurricanes (2025-27), New York Islanders (2023-25), Florida Panthers (2023-24), Boston Bruins (2020-23), Ottawa Senators (2019-21), Montreal Canadiens (2017-20) and Minnesota Wild (2015-18). He appeared in 61 games as recently as 2023-24 when that campaign was split between the Panthers and Islanders, registering 24 points that included a career-best six goals. During the 2020-21 season, Reilly set personal-bests in assists (27), points (27) and time on ice per game (19:17) on the year that saw him compete for both Ottawa and Boston. The rearguard dressed in 70 games the following year for the Bruins, his most in a single campaign, and posted 17 points (4g/13a) to rank third among Boston blueliners in goals (tied), assists and points.
Reilly has added eight points (1g/7a) over 23 playoff showings. In addition to his two Stanley Cup Playoff games last season, the left-shot defenseman posted two points (1g/1a) during all five of the Islanders’ games in 2024, dressed in five of Boston’s seven games in 2022 (0g/0a), and suited up in all 11 of the Bruins’ Stanley Cup Playoff contests in 2021 (0g/4a). He averaged 21:29 of ice time during his first playoff run.
Additional professional experience for Reilly includes 139 career games in the American Hockey League. He played for the Iowa Wild over parts of the 2015-18 campaigns and saw a stint with the Providence Bruins in 2022-23. He compiled 80 points (18g/62a) in those 139 skates and dressed for one Calder Cup Playoff matchup in 2023.
Prior to turning pro, Reilly skated for three seasons at the University of Minnesota and tallied 89 points (18g/71a) in 117 games from 2012-15. He was a Hobey Baker Trophy top-10 finalist his final year there, was twice named to the NCAA (West) First All-American Team and twice named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in his final two seasons with the Gophers. Reilly also played one season for the British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees (2011-12) and tallied 83 points (24g/59a) in 51 games as well as nine points (1g/8a) in 15 playoff contests. That season, Reilly was tabbed BCHL (Interior) Best Defenseman by leading the league’s blueliners in goals and assists, and the Vees took home the BCHL Championship, the Doyle Cup and the RBC Cup.
Internationally, Reilly has represented the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Championship and the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. At the senior tournament, Reilly earned a bronze medal and was teammates with Avalanche forward Brock Nelson. At the 2013 showcase, Reilly helped the Stars and Stripes capture gold.
Reilly was originally drafted by the Blue Jackets in the fourth round (98th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft.
