It’s been clear for a while that the Bruins have needed help on defense, and now they’re getting some. Boston announced Sunday night that it has acquired left-shot defenseman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick.
Reilly, 27, has emerged as a bright spot on a bad Senators team, as he already has a career-high 19 points (all assists) through 40 games while playing 18:36 per night, which put him third on Ottawa in ice time.
Reilly was acquired by the Senators in a trade from Montreal last season. He also previously spent time with the Wild. He is an unrestricted free agent after the season and comes with a $1.5 million cap hit.
The strength of Reilly’s game is his skating and puck-moving ability, something the Bruins desperately need at the back. The 6-foot-1 blue-liner has also gotten better defensively over the last couple years.
The Bruins have been banged up on defense pretty much all season, most recently playing without Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller in an ugly 8-1 loss to the Capitals on Sunday night.
It was clear that general manager Don Sweeney couldn’t take health for granted and needed to get at least one defenseman before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
Given that the Bruins didn’t have to give up much in terms of assets for Reilly, and that Reilly has a fairly low cap hit, Sweeney should still have the ability to make another move or two on Monday -- whether that’s getting a forward or another defenseman or both.