Development camp: Broz has winning attitude

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Forward prospect Tristan Broz was clearly agitated at the end of the Penguins' development camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex earlier this summer.

The camp culminated in a four-on-four tournament between three teams, captained by prospects Broz, Chase Yoder, and Owen Pickering. Yeah, there's a trophy at the end of it -- the Michele Briere Cup -- but it's really a meaningless July scrimmage. Still, when Broz's team was knocked out first, he wasn't happy.

"It's July, but we're competitors," he said afterward. "We love to compete. It sucks we lost. Anytime you're competing for anything, it means a lot. ... I want to win, even when it's July. Like, I'm pissed off that we lost right now. Every day I come in, I'm here to win."

That attitude is one of the reasons director of player development Tom Kostopoulos called Broz "one of our most intriguing prospects to follow."

"We like that competitive spirit," Kostopoulos said at the end of development camp. "He's got it in him. I like that."

Broz, who was the Penguins' second-round pick in 2021, is already a champion. He won the NCAA championship last season in his junior year with the University of Denver, and he was a pretty key player in the run to the title. He finished the season with 16 goals and 24 assists in 43 games, and had two overtime winners in the postseason:

At this summer's scouting combine I caught up with Zeev Buium, a defenseman who was Broz's teammate last season and ended up being drafted 12th overall by the Wild. Buium said that the team took to calling Broz "Showtime" for his habit of scoring those clutch goals.

"He's a rockstar," Buium told me. "I think as the year went on too, his voice became bigger and really played a bigger role. He was great for all of us, a positive kid. Such a phenomenal kid. I love him very much, and I'm going to miss him a lot next year. It's so tough that we're losing him, but you guys got a great one for sure."

I asked Broz about that growth into being more of a leader, and he said he felt as if he needed to "earn the right to speak."

"You have to earn your teammates' respect through your work ethic every day," Broz explained. "And then when it does come to those big moments in the locker room, the guys know that you put the work in to be there and that everything you say is truthful. You're not just saying things to be like a 'rah rah' guy, or to be a guy that wants attention. You're just saying things genuinely and for the purpose of motivating and winning."

Broz's college career took an interesting path. He started out at the University of Minnesota, and had an OK freshman year with six goals and five assists in 36 games. Seeking a better fit, he transferred to Denver after his freshman year. He had a slow start in his new home, recording just one goal and one assist in his first 13 games. But he finished that year strong, racking up 10 goals and 18 assists in 40 total games. He took a major step forward this year in terms of his consistency, and that led to that near-point-per-game pace.

"it's great to see how he keeps maturing and growing as a player," Kostopoulos said of that growth. "He's always had the skill set, but you can see the work ethic and his attitude keeps maturing."

JOE ZAK / PENGUINS

Joona Vaisanen and Tristan Broz in the Penguins' development camp earlier this summer.

Broz, 21 and listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds, is a skilled, playmaking, left-handed forward who can play both center and wing. Since he was drafted, he thinks his biggest areas of growth have come in his defensive game and compete level, and shifting to a mindset of doing whatever it takes to win rather than more of an individual mindset. He's also grown physically, packing on 30 pounds over the last three years, something that's given him more confidence going into puck battles along the boards and when he's protecting the puck. That strength is going to come in handy, because Broz is going to be playing against men next season.

Broz signed his three-year entry-level deal after the end of Denver's season, and after a couple of days, joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to finish out the season. He made his AHL debut in Wilkes-Barre's brief playoff run, going scoreless in two games.

"Obviously it's kind of tough coming in for the playoffs, and coming into more the off-ice aspect with a group that's been together for so long," Broz said of that experience. "It feels a little awkward and stuff, but the guys did a great job, and I definitely learned just the compete level night in and night out that it takes. Obviously it's a a playoff game, but guys are fighting for a job, fighting for a spot."

Broz said that there haven't been conversations with the organization yet when it comes to whether he'll start his pro career as a wing or center. He considers himself naturally more of a center, but feels comfortable enough at left wing that he doesn't have much of a preference for where he actually plays. Oftentimes, what you'll see happen when a versatile player like that is breaking into the AHL then into the NHL, is they'll start out each level as a wing then shift to center once they become more acclimated to the pace and responsibilities of that league.

Broz will almost certainly start the year in Wilkes-Barre. He's one of their more intriguing forward prospects who will be at the pro level, but he'll also need more than those two games in the AHL before he'll really start pushing for a spot. After he takes that time to get acclimated to professional hockey, Broz is hoping to be part of the wave of prospects that can help the Penguins get younger in the near future.

"That's one of the messages that's talked about Day 1 of development camp," Broz said of pushing for that spot. "It all starts with the captain, Sidney Crosby. I mean, he comes in every single day and works his butt off, and I think just trying to show that to the younger guys. I'm not too vocal of a guy, but I just try to come in and work as hard as I can every single day, and hope guys can feed off of it."

JOE ZAK / PENGUINS

Tristan Broz in the Penguins' development camp earlier this summer.