In many ways, it would have been a conflict of interest if Reilly signed with any team other than the Wild.

Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth round (No. 98) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Reilly became a free agent when the Blue Jackets' draft rights to him expired June 15, 2015.

The Chicago-born, Minnesota-raised defenseman signed July 1, 2015, with the team near his boyhood home in Chanhassen and near where he played for four years at the University of Minnesota. If that weren't enough local ties, Reilly's father, Mike, is a minority investor in the Wild.

In high school, Reilly helped the renowned Shattuck-St. Mary's School to a national championship in the 2010-11 season. He later starred at Minnesota, twice being named the Big Ten Conference's Defensive Player of the Year and earning a Hobey Baker Award nomination in 2015 after scoring six goals and 42 points over 39 games in his final season.

Reilly, whose father was an eighth-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1977 NHL Draft and whose two brothers and two sisters played college hockey, quickly reached the NHL after signing.

A solid puck-moving defenseman with great vision, Reilly was assigned to Iowa of the American Hockey League for training camp prior to the 2015-16 season. He scored five goals and 23 points in 45 games with Iowa before making his NHL debut in a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 9, 2016.

Reilly scored his first NHL goal in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 13, 2016. Five days later, he had his first multipoint game with two assists in a 5-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers. Three days after that, Reilly assisted on Thomas Vanek's goal in Minnesota's 6-1 Stadium Series win against the Chicago Blackhawks for his first scoring streak.

But Reilly fell victim to the Wild's logjam on defense in 2017-18, After putting up 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 38 games and often being a healthy scratch, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 26, 2018.

In three seasons with Montreal, Reilly had 23 points (three goals, 20 assists) in 90 games. He was traded to the Senators Jan. 3, 2020 and had one goal and 11 assists in 30 games with Ottawa.

Reilly was claimed off waivers by the New York Islanders from the Florida Panthers on Nov. 25, 2023. He re-signed with the Islanders on July 1, 2024, and one year later signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.