Mike Reilly, who returned from heart surgery, is the Islanders' nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy

Mike Reilly considers himself an optimist. It’s what helped the Islanders defenseman through the most trying of his 10 NHL seasons.

He missed 54 games after suffering a concussion on Nov. 1 and subsequently having a heart defect that required surgery discovered during routine medical testing. And his inspiring return to being an active player is why the 31-year-old is the Islanders’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey as voted upon by the team’s chapter for the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and announced on Wednesday. 

“I’ve had a lot of time to self-reflect,” Reilly said. “I had a lot of thoughts. My personality is kind of optimistic. I’ve been through some stuff before, whether it’s being in and out of the lineup throughout my career, things of that nature. From Day 1 of getting the surgery and finding out the news, it was, ‘Let’s make a great story out of this.’

“I owe it to myself to push through. There were a lot of hard days but, for me, it was let’s push through. Let’s see where this goes.”

Reilly finally returned to the lineup on March 16, notching an assist in a 4-2 win over the visiting Panthers. He also played the next five games before coach Patrick Roy re-inserted Adam Boqvist and then Scott Mayfield into the lineup instead.

“He deserves it,” Roy said of Reilly’s Masterton nomination. “It’s been a roller coaster year. He started the year playing well and feeling good. He gets hurt against Buffalo and then, from that moment, it was downhill from there. But he worked so hard. I really do appreciate how resilient he’s been, how hard he’s been working to be in that position and give himself a chance to continue to play. It’s impressive.”

Even though it was quickly determined Reilly’s undetected heart condition was neither life- nor career-threatening, it was still a heart problem.

“Nobody likes that,” Roy said. “It seems like he’s got a really good mind and he’s been handling it very well.”

“Mike is a great teammate,” defenseman Adam Pelech said. “He’s a great guy and we’re all so happy for him that he was able to make a full recovery and come back and play. He put in a lot of hard work. It’s not easy missing four, five months and then coming back and stepping into a game where everyone has been playing every day. He worked really hard to put himself in a good position to come back.”

Reilly said mostly he feels grateful for what he’s been through this season. His concussion symptoms quickly subsided but it was crucial for his heart condition to be detected.

“This game gives you so much,” said Reilly, who praised the Islanders’ organization and president/general manager Lou Lamoriello for finding him the best medical care. “There was a health situation that, whether it’s a major issue right now or down the road, it’s still scary. So I’m grateful to find out what’s going on with me and finding it in such a unique way, I’m still a little mind-blown a little bit about it.

“Though it wasn’t a great situation I think a lot of positive came out of it for life-long health. It makes me put it into perspective.”

The Islanders have had three Masterton winners: Robin Lehner (2019), Mark Fitzpatrick (1992) and Ed Westfall (1977).

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.