Man of the Week: Reilly Walsh

KHL.ru’s weekly column returns with Reilly Walsh. The American defenseman had a strong start of his KHL career with Barys, and despite the Kazakhs’ setback he is on a three-game scoring streak and is helping the team pushing for a playoff qualification.

Reilly Walsh has started his KHL adventure with Barys in strong fashion. Through fifteen games this season he has already notched eleven points with four goals and seven assists, skating an average of almost twenty minutes per game. He is now riding a three-game scoring streak, showing that his offensive instincts are translating well into a new league, despite Barys having dropped their last five games.

Early years

Originally from Massachusetts, Walsh sports hockey in his bloodlines, being the son of Mike Walsh, who played professionally in North America and Europe between the 80s and the 90s, lifting the Calder Cup of AHL champion in 1990 with the Springfield Indians. Walsh’s brother Ronan, a whole thirteen years younger, is still playing at the college level. Walsh played his prep hockey largely at Proctor Academy where he put up huge numbers — for example in 2016-2017 he had 69 points (30 goals, 39 assists) in 30 USHS – Prep games, a remarkable 2.3 points per game pace.  He also had time in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm and the Chicago Steel, contributing there as he transitioned toward college.

Ranking up

After the juniors, Walsh continued his hockey career enrolling to Harvard University, where he played three seasons (2017-2018 through 2019-2020) before turning pro. Over those 96 games for the Crimson he scored 78 points (27 goals, 51 assists). In his freshman year he recorded 20 points in 33 games and was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team. As a sophomore, he really broke out: 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 33 games, putting him among ECAC defensemen and NCAA defensemen nationally in points per game.

His junior year saw 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) in 30 games, and he finished that season ranked second among NCAA defensemen in power-play goals (he had six).

Going pro

After college, Walsh’s pro career in North America in the AHL showed steady if unspectacular growth, always leaning toward offense for a defenseman. He was a third-round pick for the New Jersey Devils in 2017, but played in the end only one game in the NHL, recording an assist. Over 304 AHL regular season games between Binghamton/Utica, Providence, and Ontario, he collected a solid total of 159 points (38 goals, 121 assists).

In 2024-2025 with the Ontario Reign, Walsh played 70 games, scored six goals, dished out 26 assists for 32 points – the most in the team among defensemen – though he ended the season with a minus-11 differential. As an impending free agent to the Los Angeles Kings, Walsh decided to move on with his career signing his first deal overseas, inking a one-year contract with Barys.

Move to the KHL

Now in the KHL, Walsh appears to be settling in quickly. With the Kazakh franchise changing direction this offseason and loading up its roster, the team has a chance to return to postseason hockey after a three-year hiatus. The Kazakhs are currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, and even if they are in a losing streak, forcing several games to extra time is paying off in the standings. Regarding Walsh, the offense is there, and now the challenge is to combine it with defensive consistency and help his new team climb back into the win column.