Today Zach Aston-Reese is a highly-successful fourth-line forward who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). He’s known for his strong defensive skills and his physicality.
Aston-Reese’s NHL resume is that he is primarily a bottom-six forward who has often been used in a checking role. In that role, he’s tenacious. He uses his size and physical strength to disrupt opposing teams’ offensive game. He’s also a smart player who has developed a good understanding of defensive positioning and is willing to block shots and battle along the boards.
This season, he’s set a career-best with 10 goals. And really, that’s not a ton of scoring. But, he comes by that scoring honestly. He gets in front of the net, disrupting and banging. When he does score it’s often a blue-collar goal that comes because he just refuses to be out-dug.
Toronto Maple Leafs: On Zach Aston-Reese, the Leafs getting goalied by Jet Greaves, and killer instinct: Muzzy’s Muzings https://t.co/0RpP1EgOZr pic.twitter.com/SRSHYzHmlX
— AjaxPickering.ca (@ajaxpickering) April 5, 2023
But, mostly, Aston-Reese is focused on his defensive game. If you didn’t know much about him, you’d just sort of get the impression that Aston-Reese is a mucker. He’s a hard-working, blue-collar player who isn’t much for the offensive side of the game.
But, it wasn’t always that way. Aston-Reese was once one of the highest scorers in NCAA history. In this post, I’ll review some of his scoring plights and some of the ways he led his team.
Speaking for myself, I found his offensive abilities surprising. Perhaps you will, too.
If you have the inclination, take a look at the Northeastern University Huskies’ website. The link is here.
Zach Aston-Reese had an outstanding career with Northeastern University, earning numerous awards and setting school records. Here are 10 key (impressive) things to know about his university career:
As I noted, I think of ZAR as a bit of a mucker – certainly, a defensive-first player. He’s a banger who often leads any team he plays on in hits.
But it wasn’t always so. At one time, seven seasons ago, Aston-Reese was one of the leading scorers in all the United States in collegiate hockey.
Zach Aston-Reese scored twice and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Friday night to snap a two-game skid.https://t.co/7YsLwVLe78
— WLOS (@WLOS_13) March 19, 2023
Is it possible next season that he might actually become a 20-goal scorer? He might just be an offensive surprise in the making.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!