Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Tristan Bloss brought something a little bit special to development camp at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Maybe he brought something a lot more special.
He capped off his collegiate career by helping the University of Denver win an NCAA championship, adding a major accomplishment to his resume and a bigger physique.
“Looking back at being 18 and getting drafted here, I think I've grown up a lot,” said Broz, now 21. “I think I've matured a lot. I've grown up a lot. I've put on 30 pounds, my body has grown, so I've really come a long way.”
Broz, who can play center or left winger for the Penguins, posted career highs with 16 goals, 24 assists and 40 points at DU.
He had a whirlwind month in late March, scoring in double-overtime in the NCAA regional semifinal against Massachusetts and again in overtime in the national semifinal against Boston College, before turning pro and signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins and joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the shortened playoff run.
“It's been pretty crazy,” Broz said. “I won, I went pro, I'm just trying to accept it.”
Things happened so fast that he barely got to celebrate his NCAA title.
“I only had a couple of days off,” he said. “It was pretty sudden, but I can't complain. Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player.”
Now he's a professional player, one whose quality of play has improved with all that extra muscle.
“The last couple years have been tough,” he said of his weight gain through increased eating and weight training. “Now that I'm starting to realize I've put on weight, I think I'm more confident in the corners, offensively and defensively and protecting the puck.”
PHN's Dan Kingski contributed.
Connections, connections
Being Penguins prospects and draft picks isn't the only thing several players attending development camp have in common.
*Defenceman Lucas St. Louis and forward Ryan St. Louis are brothers and sons of former star forward Martin St. Louis, who is now coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Lucas and defenceman Jonah Vaisanen, the Penguins' 2024 fourth-round draft pick, were teammates at Dubuque in the United States Hockey League.
*Forward Jack Beck, forward Christopher Brown, forward Justin Cloutier, defenceman Kaden Carlisle and goaltender Charlie Schenkel played together for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.
*Forward Mathieu de Saint Phalle and defenseman Daniel Lahti played together at Wisconsin, as did Cruz Lecuis, who is not participating in camp due to an illness.
* Forward Charlie Cerrato plays for the nearby Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League and will attend Penn State next season. He will be teammates on the Nittany Lions with sophomore forward Matt Dimarisco, who played in the Pittsburgh Penguins' elite program.
*The Penguins' 2023 sixth-round draft picks – forward Cooper Foster, forward Will Gerrioll and defenceman Frankie Marelli – played together for the Ottawa 67's in the Ontario Hockey League.
*Forward Tanner Howe, the Penguins' 2024 second-round draft pick, played with Penguins prospect Brayden Yeager in the 2022-23 Hilinka Gretzky Cup and Penguins prospect Owen Pickering in the 2022-23 World Under-18 Junior Championship. Howe and Yeager are childhood friends.
*Forward Tristan Broz, the Penguins' second-round draft pick in 2021, has often spoken about growing up idolizing Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
*Goalkeeper Owen Say and defenseman Philip Waugh are teammates at Mercyhurst University.
*Forward Luke Devlin, who was selected by the Penguins in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, is the son of Toronto Raptors television announcer Matt Devlin.
*Defenceman Chase Pietila and forward Logan Pietila are brothers and were teammates at Michigan Tech.
