Toronto Maple Leafs Rumours: Interested in Zach Aston-Reese

Update: Sometimes the rumours are true! The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Zach Aston-Reese to a PTO.  The rest of the article is unchanged.  Proceed knowing it was written about an hour before they signed him.  

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed their first ever hyphenated player this summer when they locked down potential Michael Bunting impersonator Nicholas Aube-Kubal.

That is a weird fact, but after going approximately 127 years without one, the Toronto Maple Leafs may be in the market for another.

Sportsnet reporter Mark Spector has indicated that Aston-Reese may end up in Edmonton on a PTO, but that the Leafs are also interested.

I don’t know a lot of things.  If you read the comments section here on any given day, it’s apparently impressive for one such as myself to be able to read and write.  But one thing I do know is that Aston-Reese has no business being on a PTO.

A PTO, or Player Try Out, means he’s invited to training camp to try and win a contract.

But if there isn’t a single NHL team willing to sign him, then I am shocked.  ZAR is one of the NHL’s best defensive players.  He might be the best, I don’t know.  He certainly shouldn’t have to beg for table scraps, and honestly, this is so dumb the only analogy I have is when Reprise Records rejected Wilco’s masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Are record companies dumb? Of course.  Are NHL GMs?  I am starting to think maybe.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Zach Aston-Reese

You’d be hard pressed to get better value on a league minimum deal, and he almost certainly would help the team.

https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/1568274302239383552

My only concern is where do all these guys play?

Assuming that Kampf-Engvall-Jarnkrok make up the NHL’s best defensive line, and the Leafs keep Alex Kerfoot, that means they have about seven-hundred 4th line options.

Now, Aston-Reese may be the best 4th liner in the world.  But, the Leafs already have a light-out set of defensive forwards (probably the best in hockey) and with their 3rd line having almost no offense, they need their fourth line to score.

Aston-Reese doesn’t score.  He hasn’t even played a full 82 games before.   This is because NHL teams do not know what to do with players who don’t score.  (Note that that JFRESH chart is a year old, but shows three years of data, so that is why I used it.  The ones just for last year show similar defensive numbers).

If I was in charge of the Leafs, I’d seriously consider moving Engvall into an offensive role, and having Aston-Reece line up with Kampf and Jarnkrok.  This would be an incredible defensive line.

A fourth line built around offense – Robertson-Steeves- Aube-Kabel   might be fun in this situation.

As tempting as it would be to sign this player, I think the Toronto Maple Leafs really need to leave some room on the roster to break in a few Marlies.  Aston-Reese would probably help the team, but not as much as finding a 30 goal scorer they didn’t know they had.

If, however dumb it is that he isn’t already signed to a guaranteed contract, they can get him here on a PTO then sign him if it looks like Abruzzese, Steeves, Robertson and Holberg need more time, that would be great.

But the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t afford to continue to block their prospects from making the NHL.