East Notes: Reilly, Johnson, Atkinson

While the Bruins sent Mike Reilly back to AHL Providence earlier this week, he’s not in their lineup tonight and Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link) that the defenseman is hoping for a trade.  Reilly cleared waivers back in training camp in large part due to his contract which carries a $3MM AAV through next season.  Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to pick up that full deal but if Boston is open to retaining part of the salary, then a swap might become more palatable.  The Bruins are currently carrying a $1.875MM cap charge with the 29-year-old being parked in the minors so being able to offload even some of that would help alleviate a tight cap situation.  Divver notes that it’s unknown if there is something in the works at the moment.

More from the Eastern Conference:

• It was a tough day on the injury front for the Blue Jackets today with Zach Werenski being ruled out for the year while Nick Blankenburg will miss several weeks as well. However, there was one piece of good news as Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch relays (Twitter link) that forward Kent Johnson will return to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury.  The 20-year-old is off to a nice start to his first full professional campaign with three goals and three assists through 11 games.
• Flyers winger Cam Atkinson skated with the team yesterday in Columbus as he continues to work his way back from an upper-body injury, notes Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The injury, one that originally had him listed as day-to-day in training camp, has now caused him to miss the first 13 games of the year and counting as there remains no timeline for his return.  Atkinson was second on the team in scoring last season with 50 points and would be a welcome addition to a Philadelphia lineup that sits in the bottom five in goals scored in the early going.