- Canadiens sign defenseman Reilly Walsh to a one-year, two-way deal
- Walsh put up 46 points in 68 KHL games, third among league defensemen
- Read below for the terms and Walsh’s winding road back to the NHL
The Canadiens went shopping in the KHL for some blue-line depth.
Montreal signed 27-year-old defenseman Reilly Walsh to a one-year, two-way contract on Wednesday. The deal pays $850,000 at the NHL level and $375,000 in the minors, with $450,000 guaranteed, per PuckPedia.
Walsh is coming off the best season of his pro career. He posted 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points in 68 games with Barys Astana last year, which put him third in KHL scoring among defensemen.
The Framingham, Massachusetts, native has taken the long way around. New Jersey drafted him in the third round in 2017 out of the USHL, and he spent three years at Harvard, where he racked up 78 points in 96 games.
His NHL resume is thin. Walsh has played exactly one game in the league, picking up an assist for the Devils in a late-April overtime loss to Ottawa in 2021-22. The rest of his North American career played out in the minors with Binghamton, Utica, Providence and the Kings’ AHL club.
New Jersey traded him to Boston for Shane Bowers in 2023, and he signed with Los Angeles as a free agent the following summer before heading overseas to Kazakhstan.
Now he lands in Montreal, where the roster has seen plenty of movement this offseason. The Canadiens have been busy locking up young pieces and shopping Kirby Dach in trade talks for a center.
Walsh gives Montreal an experienced puck-mover for Laval and an insurance option if injuries hit the NHL blue line.
