What Tristan Broz Brings to Penguins

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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t waiting for the offseason to begin making moves. The team signed forward prospect Tristan Broz to a three-year entry-level contract. After wrapping up a national title-winning season with the University of Denver, he will report directly to the AHL for the remainder of the season.

The Penguins are getting another prospect to be excited about. Fresh off of the best season of his collegiate career, there is a lot to love about the former second-round pick’s game. But what can the Penguins expect from Broz?

Broz is a 21-year-old forward who projects to be a solid center at the NHL level. Standing at 6’0 and pushing 200 pounds, Broz is a departure from the undersized skill forwards the Penguins have developed over the past few years. He’s got the makings of a middle-six center that can contribute on both sides of the puck.

This past season was a breakthrough year for Broz in every aspect of his game. Scoring-wise, this year was the step everyone had been waiting for him to take. Playing most of the season as the first-line center, Broz’s game evolved in nearly every way. He improved in all offensive categories, registering 16 goals and 40 points in 43 games.

His skill set doesn’t end with playing with the puck, though. In fact, much of his game centers around his play away from it. His improvements began last season as a left winger, where he found his game as a piece of a cycling offense at Denver. That carried over into this season, too, as he’s picked up his play while transitioning full-time to center. He is excellent at shrugging off defenders and making himself open in the offensive zone.

The one area where Broz needs to fully develop is defensively. He needs to improve his faceoff abilities, his defensive awareness, and add some more versatility in front of his own net. Because he is such an intelligent player, there is plenty of reason to believe he can grow this aspect of his game before long.

Broz is being dropped into the deep end by joining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as they prepare for their playoff run. The Penguins’ management will get a close-up look at Broz to see how far he is from the NHL.

The best guess is that he will need another season or two in the AHL before he’s ready to help the Penguins full-time, but that could change if his game translates to the AHL faster than expected. Whether it’s one year, two years, or three years, the Penguins should be ecstatic to have another future NHL player joining their organization.

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