It took longer than he would have liked, but Penguins forward prospect Tristan Broz finally has his first career NCAA goal.
Broz, the Penguins' second-round pick in the 2021 draft, is a freshman this season at the University of Minnesota. Capable of playing both wing and center, he's played primarily left wing on Minnesota's third line this season.
Broz entered Friday's game against Alaska with just two assists in his first 17 games, spending some time as a healthy scratch leading into Minnesota's holiday break.
Broz opened the scoring in the first period of that game, picking up a rebound and finishing with a tough-angle shot from the goal line:
Broz was named the No. 1 star in Minnesota's 4-1 win for his goal.
“It was a nice feeling,” Broz said in his postgame comments. “Just to get that first one out of the way, especially it’s taken me a little bit of time, so it was a nice monkey off the back.”
Broz, 19, still likely has a few years to go before he even makes the jump to pro hockey. His foray into the college game hasn't always gone smoothly in the first half of his freshman season, but he's still so young. No reason to worry yet.
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Here's how the Penguins' prospects in junior, college, and Europe did this week:
FORWARDS
Raivis Ansons
Position: Right wing/left wing
Size: 6-1/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Team: Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
Season totals: 19 games, 6 goals, 18 assists
The QMJHL extended its pause until Feb. 1.
Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-0/179
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, second round
Team: University of Minnesota (NCAA)
Season totals: 19 games, 1 goal, 2 assists
Broz played in two games and scored his first NCAA goal.
Judd Caulfield
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-3/207
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Team: University of North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 21 games, 3 goal, 5 assists
North Dakota's two-game series against Omaha this week was postponed due to COVID protocols affecting North Dakota.
Liam Gorman
Position: Center
Size: 6-3/199
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, sixth round
Team: Princeton University (NCAA)
Season totals: 13 games, 1 goal, 2 assist
Princeton is still on holiday break.
Lukas Svejkovsky
Position: Center/right wing
Size: 5-9/170
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2020, fourth round
Team: Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Season totals: 24 games, 13 goals, 17 assists
Svejkovsky hasn't played since being acquired by the Thunderbirds three weeks ago. The only explanation given on the team's website is that he is "awaiting the okay to return to play."
Kirill Tankov
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-2/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: SKA-Neva (VHL)
Season totals: 29 games, 8 goals, 6 assists
Tankov was scoreless in two games. He was fourth-line center for the first game, then second-line center in the second game as SKA-Neva dealt with a depleted lineup.
Chase Yoder
Position: Center
Size: 5-11/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, sixth round
Team: Providence College (NCAA)
Season totals: 25 games, 4 goal, 4 assists
Yoder was scoreless in two games centering Providence's fourth line.
DEFENSEMEN
Santeri Airola
Size: 5-9/163
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: Ilves (Liiga), KOOVEE (Mestis)
Season totals: 2 games (Mestis)
Airola missed the start of the Liiga season with a lower-body injury. His team announced on Oct. 14 that Airola underwent surgery and is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 months.
Isaac Belliveau
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Team: Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season totals: 29 games, 1 goal, 9 assists
The QMJHL extended its pause until Feb. 1.
Per advanced stats service InStat, Belliveau is among the QMJHL defensemen with the lowest rate of turnovers, averaging 4.9 per 100 puck touches, tied for the 13th-fewest in the league:
Which QMJHL defensemans managed their puck the most efficiently?
— Andy Lehoux (@Andylehoux1) January 16, 2022
Vsevolod Komarov (#2022NHLDraft), Harijs Brants and Noah Laaouan find themselves at the top of the list. pic.twitter.com/9eFoLqqhpX
Daniel Laatsch
Size: 6-5/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
Season totals: 22 games, 2 assists
Laatsch recorded an assist in his two games this week, skating on the left side of Wisconsin's top pairing.
Ryan McCleary
Size: 6-2/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 30 games, 2 goals, 10 assists
McCleary was scoreless in three games, playing on the left side of Portland's second defense pairing.
Clayton Phillips
Size: 6-0/195
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2017, third round
Team: Penn State University (NCAA)
Season totals: 22 games, 5 goal, 6 assists
Phillips played in two games and recorded one assist.
Phillips was one of three Penn State players nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, awarded annually to the top player in college hockey. Voting is here and runs through March 6.
GOALTENDERS
Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-1/183
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, second round
Team: Karpat (Liiga), Hermes (Mestis)
Season totals: 11 games, 1.05 GAA, .952 SV% (Liiga), 3 games, 2.07 GAA, .902 SV% (Mestis)
Blomqvist played in one game, a relief appearance against the Ilves on Sunday. He allowed one goal on five shots in 7:56.
Calle Clang
Size: 6-2/176
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, third round
Team: Rogle (SHL)
Season totals: 9 games, 2.52 GAA, .903 SV%
Clang made one start for Rogle, and stopped 31 of 32 shots faced in an overtime win. One of his glove saves in that game is a candidate for the SHL Save of the Week, which can be voted on here:
