Penguins forward prospect Tristan Broz is winning and learning in his first pro season

Tristan Broz was simply doing his job as the second-line center of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On a Tuesday.

That’s nothing really out of the ordinary for a minor league hockey player at any level, but playing a game in the middle of the week is one of the myriad of adjustments Broz has had to make in his first full season as a professional after spending three seasons in the college ranks, where contests are held primarily on weekends.

“The schedule, for one, you, obviously, play a lot more games than you do in college,” Broz said by phone Wednesday, one day after a 4-1 home loss to the Belleville Senators. “Then I would say the style of play is a lot more possession-based. In college, you rarely see teams take (the puck) back and organize controlled breakouts.”

There have been some growing pains for Broz this season. But the player the Penguins selected in the second round (No. 58 overall) in 2021 has had a mostly satisfactory debut season at the American Hockey League level. In 43 games, he is one of the team’s leading goal scorers with 16 to go with 27 points overall.

Brozer with this nifty deflection pic.twitter.com/Gp92Xo6b4u

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 16, 2025

And, more importantly, he’s part of a group of legit NHL prospects that have helped to propel the AHL Penguins to a 31-16-7-1 record and second place of the Atlantic Division. There are legitimate hopes Wilkes-Barre/Scranton could go beyond the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“For starters, team success always helps individual success,” Broz said. “It always looks better on guys when you’re playing on a winning team. That’s No. 1. … I’ve always enjoyed the team aspect of the game, and I think that’s why a lot of guys play hockey.

“You see that with pretty much everyone on our team where, yeah, we all have goals of making it to the NHL and having long careers. But, at the same time, we’re on the same team right now. When you’re on a team, you sacrifice the individual for the greater good of the team. We have a lot of guys that are bought into that. That’s what makes playing hockey fun is seeing a team come together.”

The left-handed Broz is no stranger to team success. Last season, he scored the NCAA championship-clinching goal in overtime for the University of Denver.

His presence has boosted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.

“He’s been a guy that there’s a lot of positivity around,” said Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza, who oversees the AHL club. “Very coachable, works hard, cares a lot about his game. … A guy we’ve been happy with. I like his competitiveness. It’s one of the things that we find has really come out for him the second half of last year, winning the national championship, getting an elevated role and now coming to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and turning pro. He doesn’t shy away from the heavy games, which is a good sign for a guy that’s more skill-based.”

As a center, Broz (6-foot, 205 pounds) is still learning the nuances of the position, especially against seasoned veterans with — in some cases — more than a decade of experience.

“It’s a challenge,” the 22-year-old said. “Especially guys — like last night, (Belleville’s) Sam Gagner — there’s different guys that have had long NHL careers. They’re just really good with the details of being in the right spot and just kind of doing the right things out there. For me, the biggest thing is faceoffs, taking faceoffs against some of those older, veteran players. Just learning things from them. Everybody is kind of different, but I think as a centerman, that’s the biggest area that I notice it.”

Being a professional off the ice has elevated demands as well, particularly when it comes to rest and diet.

“It’s something that I like to think that I’ve always been pretty good at, just getting a lot of sleep, eating well,” Broz said. “But when you get to (the professional ranks), it gets amplified so much more. You’re playing a lot of (three games in three days on weekends), having that sleep and getting the right nutrition is even more important for rest and recovery. I don’t think it’s anything different from going back to juniors. But it’s, obviously, more important.

“You’re getting paid to do it now. It’s a job. There’s really no excuse to not do it.”

Much of Broz’s play this season has come with perhaps the Penguins’ most prized prospect, Rutger McGroarty, on his left wing. By Broz’s estimate, 30 of his first 40 games have been with McGroarty on his port side.

THE FEED FROM BROZER THE FINISH FROM RUT pic.twitter.com/rvn8aq6xVB

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 1, 2024

Like Broz, McGroarty is making the jump from the college ranks, having spent the previous two seasons at Michigan.

“There’s been probably growing pains for the both of us,” Broz said. “(McGroarty) is a great kid, and he’s been a big person that’s bought into just that team-first mentality. He’s a really great player. Chemistry is a thing that not everyone understands. I think we’re definitely growing in that aspect and, hopefully, we’ll start finding each other more here as we get more games together.”

They might have enjoyed more time with one another had Broz not missed 12 games — mostly in January — because of a bout with mononucleosis.

“It’s just really tough being away from the team when (it’s) on an 11-day road trip when I was out,” Broz said. “With mono, you’re not really going out. You’re staying home all the time. You realize how much other people impact your health. It’s funny, the second the guys got back from the road trip and I came to the rink the first day, I instantly got way better.”

It’s probably premature to suggest Broz will command consideration for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster this season following the NHL’s trade deadline on Friday. Management has indicated it would prefer to keep its legit prospects such as Broz in the heat of a postseason push at the AHL level instead of getting sporadic NHL action for a team bound to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Broz admits curiosity as to when he might be summoned to the NHL. But he’s not fixated on it.

“Obviously, I’ve thought about it, but you just don’t really know,” Broz said. “I’m just trying to keep things that I can control under my control. For me, that’s just continuing to play well here and to play hard, play the game the right way. Whatever happens with all that, just trust that’s for the greater good.”

Notes: The Pittsburgh Penguins had a scheduled day off on Monday. … Defensive prospect Daniel Laatsch was signed to a two-year entry-level contract Monday. A seventh-round draft pick (215th overall) in 2021, Laatch just completed his senior season at the University of Wisconsin.