After just winning the ECHL Kelly Cup with the Florida Everblades, former Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick signs a new contract with Motor České Budějovice.
After losing Mikuláš Hovorka who signed a rookie deal with the Florida Panthers, Will Reilly will make the jump to the Czech Extraliga League in the Czech Republic playing for Motor. Reilly just finished up his championship season with the Everblades Saturday June 8th.
Reilly was a former draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017 after playing 4 years in college. He played in 66 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, tallying a total of 11 points in those two seasons.
After moving to the ECHL as a Wheeling Nailer and then to a couple of different AHL clubs, Reilly made his way to the ECHL Florida Everblades during the 2023-24 campaign. The defenseman played in 55 games, scoring 38 points during the regular season.
He excelled this past season and, in the playoffs, helping the Everblades win the Kelly Cup with 11 points.
Jiří Novotný of Motor in a press release by the team, he said how they wanted to find a player similar to Hovorka.
"We tried to find a typologically similar player to Mikuláš Hovorka, which is not easy at all, but Will Reilly fits the bill for us. He's a great right-hander who can help us on the power play and on the penalty kill. We have seen him in a lot of matches and we believe that he will meet our expectations."
Reilly signed a one-year contract with an option and becomes the tenth Canadian player to sign a deal with the České Budějovice A team.
