The Mike Reilly sweepstakes ended today. He's signing with the Wild.
The deal, which can't be official until Wednesday, is a a two-year, $1.85 million contract (plus bonuses), sources say.
The former Gophers defenseman, who became a free agent June 16 when he didn't sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a Hobey Baker finalist.
The Chicago-born, Minnesota-raised Reilly chose the Wild over the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. He met with 10 teams at the recent combine.
"It's been pretty crazy for me," Reilly said. "When it came down to it, and doing my homework on each team, this just felt right. The last few days, just me sleeping on it, it just felt right here."
Why Minnesota over others?
"It's a good, young team with a lot of guys. They've been in the playoffs the last few years and they're ready to take the next step. They've got a lot of great pieces. I got to watch a lot of games throughout the year, and they're fun to watch. They're a fast, up-tempo team."
"I've got to come in and try to earn a spot and play well and play my game. There will be a lot of learning curves and mistakes, but I'm ready to learn from the older guys that have played in the league. There's also a lot of good, young guys, too, that played as well, so it'll be good to be able to learn from them and take it step by step to learn the pro game and be confident."
