Healthy, trim, determined Zach Aston-Reese tapping full potential for Penguins
A long offseason of rehab and commitment has left Zach Aston-Reese appearing noticeably trimmed down. And yet he’s playing a “big” game.
Big in regards to a physical style. Big in regards to production. Big in regards to the quality of his work at both ends.
In his first regular-season action in almost an entire year, Aston-Reese arguably has been the Pittsburgh Penguins’ best player the past week. Aston-Reese has a goal in each of his three games, and his puck-possession metrics compare admirably with anyone on the team.
It’s a small sample size, but Aston-Reese is showing some of his best promise yet that he’ll be a valuable middle-of-the-lineup NHL winger for a long time.
“He’s shown he’s ready,” linemate Teddy Blueger said of Aston-Reese’s return from late-summer shoulder surgery. “He’s been strong physically, he’s been strong on pucks. He works extremely hard, good around the net, puck protection, has a good shot.
“All of those things are coming together. The success he’s having is very well deserved.”
Only four players on the roster have more goals this season than Aston-Reese’s three in only three games. Only three Penguins players have more even-strength goals (albeit, one of Aston-Reese’s was an empty-netter).
A dive into advanced metrics (via naturalstattrick.com) suggests Aston-Reese has been strong defensively. He has the best season expected goals-against on the team (1.01) of anyone who’s played at least three games.
Since his season debut, Aston-Reese leads the team in high-danger scoring percentage (62.50% of plays deemed as such are for the Penguins — and not their opponents — while Aston-Reese is on the ice). Aston-Reese trails only first-liners Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust in overall scoring-chance percentage (60.87%).
Aston-Reese joins Blueger as the only players who have appeared in the past three games who have not been on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal against. And no forward in that span has been on the ice for more Penguins 5-on-5 goals than Aston-Reese.
“I’m not surprised,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Zach’s a good player. He’s a smart, conscientious, 200-foot player. He has the ability to score goals.”
Forward Zach Aston-Reese has bided his time for half a year, approximately, after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder in August.
“I feel pretty good,” he said via video conference Thursday. https://t.co/wU7kEvID7N— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) February 6, 2021
A restricted free agent this summer, Aston-Reese’s value is exhibited by the fact he leads Penguins forwards both in even-strength goals since his return and in short-handed ice time per game for the season.
“He’s scored goals at every level with the exception of the NHL,” Sullivan said. “Unfortunately for Zach, he’s had a couple of seasons where injuries have gotten in his way at inopportune times for his sake and for our sake. But we think he’s a capable two-way player, and I think he’s showing that right now.”
A variety of ailments kept Aston-Reese out of 78 of the 191 Penguins games since his February 2018 NHL debut. He also missed time during the 2018 playoffs after a vicious hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson.
Aston-Reese’s first goal this season (Feb. 11 at the New York Islanders) showed speed on a forecheck, tenacity in winning a puck battle behind the net in forcing a turnover, a quick and instinctive dart to the side of the net and a finishing touch on the backhand.
It was the type of play that can make Aston-Reese so valuable — but one that can’t be executed by a player whose aggressiveness is being muted by injury. Aston-Reese said his left shoulder had bothered him for about 2½ years before it was finally addressed surgically in August.
“A lot of hesitation in giving and receiving hits (that had been there) is (now) out of my game,” he said. “Having to get surgery kind of made me take a step back to think of why I’m always getting injured and what I could change. So I did change a few off-ice habits, cleaned up my diet and just kind of added some different things to my training and taking care of my body.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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