ZACH HERTZ

SHOOTING

As a defenceman, Zach’s shot is good. His wrister is hard and accurate. He has the intelligence and strength to be able to read what shot has a better chance of beating the goaltender. Then when he chooses the shot, it is hard and accurate. For a defenceman, he has a way of getting shots through to the net and it creates a lot of scoring chances.

SKATING

His skating is by far his biggest strength. He is a very smooth and speedy defenceman. Zach’s footwork is amazing and he can easily transition from skating forward with the offense to then retreating back to defend.  His speed makes him able to beat just about any player on the ice as well as keep up with an opposing player coming into the zone. Zach’s backward skating is also very fast and smooth as he is able to evade any defender with the puck and make a play to get the puck up the ice.

PLAYMAKING

Hertz’s playmaking is very good when it comes to setting up a rush out of his zone or making that cross-ice pass to a player waiting for a one-timer. His passes are crisp, hard, and accurate. He is also able to read that one of his teammates is picking up speed through the neutral zone and is able to make a tape-to-tape pass with ease. His ability to break up a play defensively and turn it up ice quickly is top-notch.

HOCKEY SENSE

Zach is a very intelligent defender. He reads plays with ease and knows when and where to be for a potential offensive chance. His head is always on a swivel and always knows where the opposing players are on the ice. His biggest attribute when it comes to his hockey sense is his ability to transition from offense to defense and back to defense. He is very reliable when it comes to being in an offensive rush and always being the first back to kill an opponent’s attack. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time defensively and offensively. 

PHYSICALITY

Zach is a big player for his age. While he may not be the man that lays the big hit in a game, he is not afraid to use his big frame to protect the puck. He is also not afraid to get in the corner and battle with an opposing player. He likes to use his body on the penalty kill in the corner or in front of the net when clearing the opponent’s players or getting the puck off the wall. If there was one area Zach could improve it would be getting a little nastier and using his big body to disrupt plays with hits. He also will continue to grow and in the future, I can see him being a reliable feisty imposing force on the back end that no one will want to play against.