Penguins’ first pick has tons of talent
Forward will play in college with goal to grow, improve
After sitting out the first round of the NHL draft Friday night, the Penguins on Saturday made the first draft pick of general manager Ron Hextall’s tenure, selecting American forward Tristan Broz in the second round at 58th overall.
Broz is the first U.S. player picked by the Penguins in either of the first two rounds since Beau Bennett back in 2010. The 18-year -old, who has a left-handed shot, will be a freshman at the University of Minnesota this upcoming fall.
“I’d say I’m a pretty skilled, playmaking forward,” Broz said Saturday on a video call with Pittsburgharea media. “I like to use my creativity, hands and stickhandling ability to set up chances and create offense for my teammates.”
NHL draft analysts agree Broz, who has experience at both center and left wing, has skills. He has also flashed a high energy level and a nose for the net.
Broz, listed at 6 feet and 178 pounds, spent the past two seasons with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. In 2020-21, he had 19 goals and 51 points in 54 games with 54 penalty minutes and a minus-5 rating. The Bloomington, Minn., native added three goals and 11 points in nine playoff games.
“One of the advantages we’ve had from a scouting standpoint is that the USHL is one of the leagues that played all year,” director of player personnel Chris Pryor said. “So we’ve had a number of viewings on him from a number of people in our staff. … We felt we knew the player pretty well, so we were quite pleased.”
Pryor said the Penguins like his “good skill set,” skating and competitiveness.
Plus, Broz was one of five prospects the Penguins drafted this year who were at least six feet tall. Their haul included three big blueliners in the later rounds.
Broz’s future coach at Minnesota, Bob Motzko, recently hyped
him up, telling the school’s website that he is “one of the most gifted players in the draft.”
“He has excellent skills and will bring the crowds to their feet with his ability to make plays,” he said. “While playing in the USHL, he learned to compete at a high level and bring grit to his game that will makehim a complete player.”
The Gophers will oversee the forward’s efforts to get biggerand stronger.
“Over the next couple years, the biggest thing is going to be continuing to get in the weight room and try to build strength, really just grow my body,” Broz said. “I think Minnesota has a good strength program that can helpme do that.”
Pryor indicated the Penguins will be patient with his developmentthere.
Broz has been a Penguins fan and an admirer of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin since he was a little kid. He explained that he picked them over the Minnesota Wild because his hometown team played “a little bit of a boring style.”
Other NHL players whom Broz said he admired are Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Huberdeau – three wingers withsignificant swagger.
Broz can’t believe he might actually share the ice with Crosbysomeday.
“It’s been such a whirlwind of emotions the entire day. I’m just really thankful for the Penguins organization for drafting me,” Broz said, adding, “It’s pretty surreal. It’s just pretty surreal, just getting the call from Ron Hextall today. Knowing all the history ofPittsburgh and their organization,it’s really just surreal.”
In the fifth round, the Penguins took Isaac Belliveau, a puck-moving Quebec Major Junior Hockey League defenseman. Belliveau, who is 6-2, had five goals and 17 points in 37 games last season, split between Rimouski and Gatineau.
Heading into 2019-20, some NHL draft analysts pegged Belliveau as a potential 2021 first-round pick. But his production dipped and his stock dropped.
“He can play both sides of the puck but sometimes he gets a little caught up. He just needs to tone it down a little bit,”Pryor said. “But he’s got a lotgoing for him. He’s a bigger kid, got a little edge to his game. He’s got some puck game. In the draft there, we tried to make a point to get a littlebit bigger.”
They hammered the point home. In the seventh and final round, they drafted 6-2 defenseman Ryan McCleary from Portland of the Western Hockey League then 6-5 defenseman Daniel Laatsch from SiouxCity of the USHL.
“You always like to get a little bigger, a little edgier [on the blue line], because you know in the playoffs it gets very competitive,” Pryor said. “So it always helps to have those attributes. But you’ve got to be careful you don’t sacrifice [skating and puck skills]. … They do have some size, but they can playthe game.”
The Penguins used their last pick on Russian center Kirill Tankov, yet another prospect listed at 6-0 or above. New scout Alexander Khavanov pushed for him.
“There’s a lot of upside for the kid,” Pryor said. “Like with all these guys, time is on ourside and patience is on our side. So we’re happy with all ourpicks.”
The Penguins, under previous general manager Jim Rutherford, traded this year’s first-round pick to the Minnesota Wild in the 2020 deal for JasonZucker.
Therewas a flurry of player trades during draft weekend, which was held virtually for the second straight year. The Penguins, who are looking for an upgrade between the pipes and more size and physicality in their lineup, stood pat for now.