Ex-Gopher Mike Reilly to sign 2-year entry-level deal with Wild on Wednesday

Mike Reilly is set to officially wash his hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The two-time All-American defenseman is expected to join his boyhood club on a two-year entry-level agreement Wednesday, signing on the dotted line with the Minnesota Wild.

"A few years ago, I definitely did not think I'd be in this situation," Reilly told Jason Gonzalez of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "But growing up as a Wild fan, you always kind of dream about it. So for this to potentially be happening is pretty surreal and an unbelievable feeling.

"It's just a dream, and I'm just excited to get going."

Reilly spurned the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks, and apparently turned down the most lucrative entry-level offer under current CBA guidelines from the Blue Jackets, who used the 98th-overall selection to take him in the 2011 NHL Draft.

He was made a free agent after Columbus failed to sign him within the four-year window in which it held his rights.