Zach Aston-Reese’s unique path to $1.725 million

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Zach Aston-Reese battles Semyon Varlamov in Game 2 of the 2021 first round on May 18.In 2012, the USHL named 40 players to a Top Prospect Game, giving skaters a chance to show off their talents prior to the 2012 NHL Draft. The list included a few familiar names, including Mike Matheson, Jaccob Slavin, Vinnie Hinostroza and, of course, 17-year-old Zach Aston-Reese, who was in the midst of his first full USHL season.

Aston-Reese was held off the scoreboard in the exhibition game, a blanking that perhaps put the nail in the coffin of his hopes of being drafted by an NHL team.

The forward instead headed to Northeastern, where he would eventually become one of the…