The Pittsburgh Penguins avoided arbitration with Zach Aston-Reese today when he signed a one-year deal worth $1.725 million. The hearing was scheduled for August 23rd but is obviously no longer necessary. Most teams and players manage to avoid arbitration, though hearings aren’t as dramatic as they used to be.
Hearing #pens will avoid arbitration with Zach Aston-Reese: 1 year x $1.725 million. @DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) August 5, 2021
Zach Aston-Reese for One More Year
Aston-Reese gets a considerable raise from his previous two-year deal that had him at an even $1 million. He had a solid playoff run, forming the Penguins’ most reliable line with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev. Clearly, that impression stuck in these negotiations. The three were linemates for much of the regular season as well, and Aston-Reese provided solid tertiary scoring for his ice time with nine goals and 15 points in 45 games.
Those don’t look like exceptional numbers at first glance but given his predominantly defensive use? Perfectly acceptable. Most of the scoring is taken up by the superstars in the top-six, after all. And while Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin panic opposing defences, Aston-Reese takes care of his end. While his Corsi was just 48.8%, it’s worth remembering that two-thirds of his starts were in his own end. Opponents may have gotten their shots, those shots weren’t particularly dangerous. His line had an expected goals of 56.8% with no goals scored against them in 140 minutes together. When we’re talking about goals against, “zero” is about as good as it gets.
Going Forward
Aston-Reese is one of the defensive anchors for Pittsburgh, and it’s no surprise to see him rewarded for it. At 26 years old, soon to be 27, it’s unlikely he’ll suddenly find a new scoring touch. He seems okay with that – as do the Penguins. He is a scorer at the AHL level but changed to suit the team in the NHL. The undrafted Ashton-Reese has built a role for himself and frankly excels at it. No doubt he and the team would have liked a longer deal, and they’ve bought themselves another 360 days to work on it.
