The Penguins needed a little shake up after a bad weekend, and it has begun. Forward Tristan Broz is coming up to the NHL for the first time, Philip Tomasino is going down to the AHL. Tomasino cleared waivers last week and was a healthy scratch for the recent games.
Harrison Brunicke is able to join the AHL on a 14-day conditioning loan. He continues to count against the 23 player roster limit. Many are starting to believe he will go to Wilkes for a while and then be loaned to Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior championships.
Defenseman Jack St. Ivany has been out since the preseason with an injury and is also nearing a return. He remains on the IR and will be getting some AHL games as he gets back into form.
Broz, 23, is in his second pro season and was a 2021 second round pick of the Pens. He’s blossomed into being one of WBS’s top players, scoring eight goals and 13 points so far this season, as well as being one of the team’s top performers in training camp and the NHL preseason games. Broz has worked mostly as a center in his pro career, a position the Penguins don’t truly need at the moment, though it will be interesting to see if this move signals a shift from Evgeni Malkin or Ben Kindel to the wing to create a hole at center or if the team will use Broz as a winger for his first taste of NHL action.
