When you think Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen during the rebuild you probably think Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner – after that it gets a little muddy.

Matt Finn is falling off and, other than Stuart Percy, the rest of the prospects are still a few years away from making the jump.

So, what about current Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Mike Reilly? Reilly remains without a contract and seems destined to become a free agent. He’s a 6’1″, 182lb, defender with excellent offensive upside who will be highly sought after if he does, in fact, hit the open market.

Reilly is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top college hockey player. Here’s what the award website has to say about the talented defender:

Mike Reilly – University of Minnesota, Junior, Defense, Chanhassen, Minnesota As the highest scoring defenseman in the nation, Reilly is a slick playmaker who has 36 assists, tied for second overall in the nation. Particularly dangerous with the man advantage, Reilly has 21 points on the power play, also tied for 2nd in the nation. For the second straight year, he was honored by the Big Ten as Defensive Player of the Year and First Team all-conference. (HobeyBaker.com)

We can look at this and say there’s a similar player in Jake Gardiner – but Reilly is three years younger than Gardiner and, surely, he can’t be more of a liability in his own end.

If the Leafs were to go after Reilly and successful obtain his services it would open the door to trading Jake Gardiner for other assets to assist in the rebuild.

College players like to go to teams where they know they’ll get a chance to play and that’s something the Toronto Maple Leafs can offer Mike Reilly in bunches.

Minnesota Hockey Prospects was pretty high on Reilly when he was being drafted, here’s a quote from them via JacketsCannon.com:

“Reilly has great offensive instincts, demonstrating nightly that he has a good deal of skills at his disposal. Has good puck control and reads the play in front of him extremely well, making him an ideal candidate to run the power-play. Is a smart player that is capable of making snap decisions in pressure situations. The skill is there with Reilly, the question is if he’s dynamic enough to compensate for his small stature. At just 150 lbs. Reilly is the smallest prospect that the state has to offer. The size issue may have NHL franchises proceeding with caution.” (JacketsCannon.com)

Don Cherry won’t like it, but should the Toronto Maple Leafs chase Mike Reilly if Columbus can’t get him inked and he becomes a free agent?

Should the Maple Leafs push to sign Mike Reilly if he becomes a UFA? Yes

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