Rumor: Bruin being held out over potential trade.

It sounds like there may soon be a trade coming out of Boston, at least if everyone gets what they are hoping for.

Earlier this week the Bruins announced that they would be placing veteran defenseman Mike Reilly on waivers for the purpose of sending him down to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Reilly would eventually clear the waiver process and has since been assigned to AHL Providence, however in spite of that assignment the 29 year old defenseman has thus far not appeared in a single game at the AHL level.

That leaves some questions about what the future will hold for Reilly, and it sounds like a report from the National Hockey League's own Mark Divver may contain the answers. Divver recently commented on the lack of play from Reilly at the AHL level and not only did Divver acknowledge that Reilly had not played, but the NHL reporter went a step further by indicating that he expects that trend to continue moving forward.

The most interesting detail of Divver's report however was his indication that he believes a trade may be the answer to this ongoing problem for Reilly and the Bruins. Divver admitted that he doesn't know if such a deal is currently in the works, but he did indicate his belief that Reilly is currently awaiting one. This of course could explain why he has thus far refused to play at the AHL level, and the question now of course is where could he end up?

There's little doubt that Reilly is a capable NHL defenseman and I suspect that the reason he cleared the waiver process had a lot more to do with his contract than his level of play. Reilly is currently in the second year of a three year deal he signed with the Bruins, one that carries an average annual value and salary cap hit of $3 million per season. Teams that are interested in acquiring Reilly will also need the necessary cap space to make him fit onto their roster, and that is likely where complications arise.

That being said Reilly did appear in 10 games for the Bruins this season before being sent down, so teams that would have an interest in acquiring him know exactly what they would be getting in the veteran defenseman.