Penguins forward prospect Tristan Broz has officially transferred to the University of Denver beginning in 2022-23, the program announced on Sunday.
Broz, 19, was the Penguins' second-round pick in 2021 and was a freshman last season for the University of Minnesota, a team that reached the Frozen Four.
In transferring to Denver, Broz will be joining the defending national champions.
"We think Tristan's skillset and hockey sense will mesh seamlessly into our offense," Denver head coach David Carle said in a team release.
Broz initially had a difficult time adjusting to college hockey at the start of his freshman year, and through his first 17 games he recorded just two assists and no goals.. Broz had a turnaround in the second half of the season, and recorded six goals and three assists in his final 19 games.
Former Penguins director of player development Scott Young told me during the season that the adjustment to college hockey was much harder than Broz had anticipated.
"It was trying to explain to him that college hockey is very difficult when you come in at your age," Young said. "You're playing against some guys that are six years older than you. You're coming on to a really good hockey team, that returned a lot of players from the year before, and they were good the year before. You don't want to hear that. He said, 'Well, I think I'm good enough to play on this ice with them.' Absolutely. But just understand that you don't just come in. I think it's a common thing with a lot of players when they're getting recruited hard by a team. They're getting shown so much love by a college team, and then they come in, and then it hits you pretty hard on how difficult it is to transition."
After that transition period, Young and the Penguins' development staff liked what they saw from Broz.
"He's now doing very well," Young said. "He's a really skilled kid, he competes. The normal development process is learning how hard you have to work and and he's learned that, and he's gained the coaches' trust and he's doing very well right now."
Broz, 6 foot and 180 pounds, is a left-shot forward capable of playing both wing and center, and was primarily a left wing in his freshman year, spending much of the season on the third line. The Gophers have a number of returning forwards who played ahead of Broz in the lineup, in addition to some incoming freshman forwards who are projected to be high draft picks this summer in Pittsburgh native Logan Cooley (projected to be selected in the top three) and Jimmy Snuggerud (projected to be a late first-rounder).
By transferring, Broz will look to earn more playing time in the top-six and top power play. He believes transferring to Denver is the right choice for his development.
"I really enjoyed talking to the coaching staff and felt like Denver was a strong fit for myself as a person and as a player," Broz said in a statement of his decision to transfer.
Broz will be the third Penguins draft pick to play for the University of Denver, following 1975 12th-round pick Lex Hudson and 2010 first-round pick Beau Bennett. Other Denver alumni who went on to play for the Penguins include both Jason Zucker and Danton Heinen.
Broz will attend the Penguins' development camp this summer, which will be held from July 10-14 in Cranberry.
