Just earlier this week, the Minnesota Wild reassigned prospect defenseman Mike Reilly to the AHL’s Iowa Wild, following just one game of NHL play.
Now, after he made his AHL debut with Iowa, he’s headed back up to the big club.
The Wild confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that Reilly, who has gone pointless through his first games in each the AHL and the NHL this season, has been recalled back up to Minnesota. He’s been brought back up ahead of the team’s game tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs, meaning he missed just one game – a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings – with the Wild during his minor league stint.
Initially a 2011 draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 22-year-old Reilly broke out at the NCAA level with the University of Minnesota and the international level with Team USA at the 2015 World Championships. He went from being a late draft pick, selected in the fourth round, to a player highly coveted when it was determined he would be exploring free agency instead of signing with Columbus.
Since winning out on his services, the Wild have split Reilly between the AHL and the NHL, giving him 45 games in Iowa last year and 29 games in Minnesota during the regular season.
It’s possible that a strong performance in coming weeks will earn the blue liner more time at the NHL level without minor league reassignments. Given how the Wild have started out their year, though, another split season is certainly not out of the question.
Minnesota will face Toronto tomorrow at 7:00 PM CST.
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