Penguins Sign Aston-Reese to One-Year Deal

Another (and perhaps final?) piece of the 2021-22 Penguins puzzle fell into place today. Methodically working through his off-season to-do list, general manager Ron Hextall signed restricted free agent Zach Aston-Reese to a one-year deal worth $1.725, squeezing the gritty forward in under the cap limit with roughly $121,000 to spare. In the process avoiding potentially costly salary arbitration.

After recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and slimming down, Aston-Reese gained a step and enjoyed arguably his finest season in ’20-21, notching nine goals and 15 points in 45 games while seeing mostly bottom-six duty next to Teddy Blueger and the departed Brandon Tanev. More grinder than over-the-top physical presence, ZAR nonetheless stuck his nose in to the tune of 95 hits, second on the club to Tanev’s 139.

A top scorer and Hobey Baker finalist during his collegiate career at Northeastern University, Aston-Reese isn’t flashy and has yet to fully develop the offensive side of his game at the pro level (an average of roughly 13 goals and 25 points per 82-game season). On the flip side, he’s established himself as a solid performer and one of the premier shutdown forwards in the NHL.

In fact, defense is the one area where he shines, as a sparkling three-year even strength defensive WAR of 100 will attest. Despite an overall WAR of 68, the rest of his metrics are on the red side of the 50 percent break-even mark, including penalty-killing (42 percent). Which makes him a bit of a one-trick pony, albeit a very good one.

It should be noted that ZAR’s offense-zone starts (32.2 percent) were among the lowest of all black-and-gold skaters.

In terms of the coming season? When everyone’s healthy, the 26-year-old native of Staten Island will likely slot in next to his old linemate Blueger. Perhaps he’ll be deployed on the off wing on a reconstructed energy line with No. 53 and newcomer Brock McGinn.