With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 48 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Will Reilly

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 23

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 197 pounds

2020-21 AHL statistics: 26 games, six points (three goals, three assists)

Contract: First year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $806,250. Pending restricted free agent 2022.

(Note: According to Cap Friendly, Reilly is still exempt from waivers in the event he is sent to the American Hockey League.)

Acquired: Seventh-round draft pick (No. 217 overall), June 24, 2017

2020-21 season: After having the remainder of his senior season (2019-20) at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) canceled in March of 2020 due to the pandemic, Reilly made the jump to the professional ranks by signing his entry-level contract in April.

Opening the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, Reilly spent his entire first professional season in Northeast Pennsylvania, with the exception of a handful of paper transactions in which he was recalled to the taxi squad for the benefit of the NHL club’s day-to-day management of the salary cap.

After making his season debut in the season opener Feb. 8, the high point of Reilly’s season came quickly. During a 5-4 road win against the Syracuse Crunch, Reilly scored his first career goal off a rebound and recorded an assist.

Primarily deployed on the right side of the third pairing with steady veteran leader Kevin Czuczman, Reilly was eased into things during his first professional season. He also saw some occasional duties with the second power-play unit while appearing in 28 of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 32 games.

The future: Reilly made satisfactory, if modest, progress in his first professional season. He wasn’t given too much in terms of duties and seemed to digest what was on his plate while adjusting to the professional game.

A dynamic and skilled player blessed with a strong shot and adequate skating, Reilly always could produce offensive figures at the NCAA level. Last season, he began to figure out the defensive details of being a professional. And as a right-handed shot, he carries a little more value just given the dearth of starboard-sided defenseman at all levels of hockey.

Reilly will likely open the 2021-22 season in Wilkes-Barre. With the potential returns of defensemen Niclas Almari, after a season in Finland, and Jesper Lindgren, from shoulder surgery, as well as the presumption that fellow first-year professional Joshua Maniscalco will see more playing time, there will be plenty of competition for playing time on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s blue line.

(Note: As a pending second-year professional, Reilly is exempt from next week’s expansion draft.)

As the last overall pick in the 2017 draft, Reilly is always going to be something of a long shot in terms of reaching the NHL. Former Penguins forwards Andy Brickley and Patric Hornqvist as well as defensemen Hans Jonsson and Zach Trotman are proof that being the NHL’s version of “Mr. Irrelevant” can offer a path to the NHL. But it’s hardly guaranteed.

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