Zellweger’s dynamic skating posture stands out as one of his best traits, allowing him to be mobile and explosive in all four directions. His knees and hips stay bent, while he maintains an upright upper body, allowing him to explode onto pucks when the opportunity arises. He has smooth, yet incredibly quick, strides that allow him to get a high rate of touches on the ice to propel him forward and often be first on pucks. This skating also allows him to get better body positioning on pucks and often separate larger opponents from pucks that smaller, slower defenders would struggle to do. He’s got a strong stacked knee and is efficient in all directions, showing good agility and deceptive stride rhythm which allows him to remain evasive and slip into space as it becomes available. He’s efficient at freezing opponents by shifting his weight efficiently and making plays between checks by feeding false information with even something as subtle as a stick angle or looking off a pass. In addition to his impressive skating ability, Zellweger is an adept puck distributor. His mobility and speed allow him to find and create space with ease and his upright body posture allows him to survey the ice to find the best passing options. His passes are direct and effective and he can create space by dragging opponents across the ice laterally with him and dropping passes back into the newly open ice. Zellweger’s play recognition is a big strength in how he plays defensively. He’s good at recognizing incoming threats and can step up to time routes and use his stick and speed to eliminate chances ahead of the touch. Boxing out and consistently badgering opponents will be key areas for him to work on as will stick detail, but he’s got a good knack for knowing when to transitionally defend and when he needs to gap and control pace to eliminate dot lane chances. While there are some areas where he could benefit with a little more safeguarding off pressure plays and explosiveness in his stride, his skating ability is a huge strong. Defensively, Zellweger will need to add some muscle and strength to his frame to find success at the next level. His slim frame can see him get outmuscled at times, but that should improve as he continues to grow.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide