As you watch prospects develop in juniors, you see them sink or flourish for any number of reasons. Career paths are derailed by poor skating, poor puck handling or a lack of general on-ice awareness.
Talented prospects often separate themselves and increase their draft stock by understanding how to manipulate time and space. As players grow older and the competition stiffens, these skills become harder and harder to come by organically. For forwards, one ceiling-killer has always been the lack of ability to create time and space.
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That brings us to Tristan Broz, the Penguins’ 58th overall selection and their first of the 2021 NHL Draft, whose video tells us he underwent that epiphany last year for the USHL’s Fargo Force. Broz flashed signs of separation in his draft-eligible season, utilizing time and space to create scoring opportunities.
It can be difficult to capture this maturation on film, but one video to start us off really details it. In the clip, Broz is covering the slot as the left winger in the defensive zone. A puck kicks out to him, and what happens next defines the poise we’ve been discussing.
With two players breathing down his neck, Broz turns on the jets, spins off the danger and takes the forecheckers on a stroll behind his own net, knowing his speed and body position will give him time to survey the ice and make a safe decision. The decision-making of one player under duress creates a safe change in possession.
(Broz is wearing No. 9 in all clips)
Not only does Broz completely shake the forechecking pressure, but he also keeps himself in position to support his teammates on the breakout and gain a clean entry into the offensive zone on the other side. Players who don’t possess that skill are likely to panic and turn the puck over in a critical area, elongating the time spent in the defensive zone due to a turnover or rushed decision.
While the shot at the other end was blocked, it’s a great example of the sound actions of one mature player.
Broz’s elevated game garnered him great returns in his final USHL season, finishing the season with 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists) in 54 games. He further developed his shot and got a little quicker with the puck on his stick, but most importantly, he learned how to better manipulate the game.
Broz’s performance was good enough to immediately find himself as the third-best prospect the Penguins have drafted in the last three years, per Patrick Bacon’s NHL equivalency/star model. We get a sense of where he slots into that group as visualized below by JFresh Hockey. Having a nearly 14 percent chance of becoming an NHL regular might seem small, but it’s a considerable value for where the Penguins ended up grabbing Broz, who fell a bit beyond his projected ranking.
I mentioned Broz’s patience and maturity, and this extends to his goal-scoring, too. In the next clip, pay attention to Broz’s movement in the seconds leading up to his goal. To remain unmarked by the defenseman, he takes a wide angle to the goal, essentially hiding behind the very defenseman trying to cover him. Rather than take a noisy beeline to the goal directly through the middle of the ice, which would alert the opposing defense to his presence, Broz tucks himself behind the defenseman and just out of his line of sight, while still in a position to finish a scoring opportunity.
This is what scouting attributes like “hockey IQ” look like in action. This is also the kind of behavior that gives me confidence Broz will continue to succeed through his career at the University of Minnesota.
I want to briefly mention Broz’s shot — he could do more there, especially given his skill in releasing the puck and the velocity he can achieve from off-balance situations. Broz should shoot the puck a bit more, but he’ll have to fit that into the busy schedule of playmaking that he already keeps for himself. Broz’s playmaking, vision and puck distribution are deceptive, intentional and pinpoint accurate.
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With a five-on-three advantage against the Sioux City Musketeers, Broz scored two goals in 22 seconds from two different spots on the ice, showcasing his ability to get to open space. It’s not overly difficult to find open space with a two-man advantage, but credit to Broz for burning the opposition twice, cutting in unmarked in both situations.
Broz, focused on controlling the pace of the game, showcased his playmaking abilities throughout his USHL career. Between a deceiving posture, a good poker face and the ability to peel off defenders, Broz’s assists featured a little bit of everything this season. The theme here remains the same: We’re seeing a maturing player begin to understand how to control the flow and pace of the game.
This short clip is a great example of what I mean. Broz skates off the wall with possession of the puck, forces a forechecker to chase him and finds an open teammate by reversing the flow of the play right back around the opponent.
These aren’t all monumental plays, but in each circumstance, Broz nets his team an offensive possession, an additional shot or some other opportunity.
Broz refined his first touch this year, executing some impressive one-on-one moves we didn’t see in the prior season. In this clip, late in the year against Sioux Falls, keep an eye on how Broz puts the finest touch on the puck to keep it moving between his legs and on net. Part of his rising stock was a higher recurrence of these circumstances playing out on video as the season progressed.
Broz strikes me as the type who can elevate a line that features finishers and space creators because of plays like this one.
In the next clip, Broz comes off the far wall with the puck on his stick and waits for the passing lane to open up. Notice how hard this pass is and how little effort the goal-scorer needs to exert courtesy of some momentum-related help from Broz’s high-velocity pass.
The other critical piece to that clip is the patience to wait for the right lane. The passing lane was already there for Broz to exploit, but his patience allowed the pass recipient to get in a more friendly position to bury the opportunity. Notice Broz’s eyes in that clip before the pass is made: His head is up, he’s surveying the scene and he’s in total control of the game.
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This is all encouraging as Broz prepares for college this fall. The competition is only going to get more difficult at the next level, but we’ve already seen Broz adapt to new levels of competition. There’s flair within his game and it’s being refined at the right times. While Broz isn’t a heavy forechecker or typical net-front presence, the Penguins already have a few of those within their system. They don’t have a two-way playmaker like this.
I don’t think the Penguins have a forward prospect like Broz. He’s the type of forward who can elevate those around him via his puck distribution, ability to weasel his way out of trouble and make the smart, safe play with the puck. He’s figuring out how to control the game at both ends of the ice, a trend worth keeping an eye on as Broz progresses to the next level and beyond.
(Photo: Russell Hons / CSM via ZUMA Wire / Associated Press)
