Senior captain recorded 68 points from the blue line for Engineers

TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey player Will Reilly has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, it was announced on Wednesday. A seventh round selection by Pittsburgh in the 2017 draft, Reilly played four seasons for the Engineers.

A senior defenseman and captain from Toronto, Ont., Reilly played in all 34 games for the Engineers this season, recording eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points to earn All-ECAC Hockey Second Team honors. The team-leader in plus/minus at +14, he also led the club in power play points with nine, on four goals and five assists. Averaging a team-high 2.53 shots per game, he had 27 blocked shots and was assessed six penalties for 12 minutes.

Reilly anchored a defensive unit that has allowed 2.55 goals per game overall and just 1.86 during ECAC Hockey play. RPI’s penalty kill of 86.0% ranked second in the league and 12th in the country. In 22 conference games, the former Nanaimo Clippers standout had six goals and 10 assists for 16 points, with a team-high +17 rating.

Offensively, Reilly recorded five multi-point efforts, including a three-point game against St. Lawrence on November 8 at the Houston Field House. He had a goal and two assists in that contest, as the Engineers won, 6-2. A finalist for the conference’s Top Defensive Defenseman, he ranked second in goals, fourth in plus/minus and fifth in points among league blueliners.

As a junior, Reilly notched five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 33 games. Limited to just 19 league contests, he had one goal and eight assists for nine points. In 2017-18, he collected seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in 37 games.

In 139 career games at RPI, Reilly notched 22 goals and 46 assists for 68 points.

Reilly became the 64th RPI player in program history to be drafted and the third to be selected by the Penguins, joining Matt Murley ’02 and Andrew McPherson ’02, who were both taken in the 1999 Entry Draft.

RPI posted a 17-15-2 overall record, this season, including a 13-8-1 mark in ECAC Hockey play, earning its first bye in the conference tournament since the 2012-13 season. The Engineers’ 17 victories are the most since 2015-16.