CRANBERRY, Pa. — Slovenia, a tiny nation in the Alps with a population roughly that of Allegheny County, isn't exactly a hockey hotbed. Only three Slovenes have ever played in the NHL, and Anze Kopitar is the only one to ever play more than four games.
Jan Drozg is working on his own path to the NHL.
Drozg, a 19-year-old forward, last week attended his second development camp with the Penguins after being drafted in the fifth round in 2017. He is the first Slovenian-born player drafted in the NHL in 11 years, and only the sixth overall. His selection in the fifth round was the second-highest for any Slovenian-born player, behind only Kopitar.
So far, he's followed a path not completely unlike that of Kopitar.
One reason Slovenian hockey is weak overall is the defensive side. As a result, some Slovenes move to a country with more of a focus on defense -- like Sweden -- when they are young. Kopitar did it, and Drozg did it, too, moving to Swedish junior hockey as a teenager.
"When I was 16 years old I left my country to go play in Sweden, to work on especially my defense game," Drozg was telling me at the camp. "They want all players to get better defensively. So I went there to work with my defensive side of my game. I play two years there, and I feel better. I feel I did a great job there. I liked it."
At 6-foot-2, Drozg's height is one of his strengths. Drozg weighs only 162 pounds, though, so he could stand to put on some weight before turning pro.
“He’s an offensive player, he’s very slender, needs time to put on strength,” then-director of amateur scouting Randy Sexton said of Drozg in 2017. “But we’re excited to have him because he brings some offense.”
Drozg's international play was definitely one of the reasons the Penguins set their sights on him. He has represented Slovenia in international tournaments in some capacity every year since the 2014-15 season, and his most impressive showing was the U18 tournament in 2017, just before the draft. Slovenia played in the Division 1 B group, the third tier of the World U18 Championship, but Drozg won MVP of the Division 1 B tournament with five goals and eight assists in five games.
Drozg, who can play either wing, made the jump to Canadian junior hockey in 2017. Days after being selected by the Penguins in the NHL draft, he was selected by the QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes in the first round of the CHL Import Draft. He finished his first season in North America as Shawinigan's leading scorer, recording 16 goals and 34 assists in 61 games.
Here, Drozg (No. 37) easily skates up the left side and puts one in the net in a game against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada last season:
Like many European players used to playing on the larger international rinks, the differences in the North American game due to the smaller ice surfaces proved to be somewhat of an adjustment for Drozg. As with his move to Sweden, he thought this move made him a better player.
"It's a big difference between the game we play in Europe and North America," he said of his first season. "I think America has smaller rinks, so the game is much faster and stronger. I think that's really good for development."
Director of Player Development Scott Young said that the Penguins have "high hopes" for the "tremendously skilled" Drozg, and spoke about an adjustment Drozg has to work with off the ice:
The QMJHL is a high-scoring league, and is notoriously bad at allowing players to develop their defensive play. For a player like Drozg, who needs to continue working on his defense, it would seem like playing in the QMJHL would hinder his development. However, the Cataractes had a poor season, finishing next-to-last in the league with a 16-45-6-1 record. Drozg believes that the adversity helped him work on what he needs the most.
"All of the season we play most of the game in our zone," he laughed. "So I learned good defense there, too."
Drozg is still a year away from making the jump to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton full time, but he joined the club as a Black Ace at the very end of last season. He made his AHL debut in the team's regular season finale on a line with Jarrett Burton and Olympian Christian Thomas, and recorded an assist in his only game.
Drozg will continue to focus on his overall game -- but especially his defense -- as he works his way towards the next stop on his journey.
"Every day I work on my defense game, offense game, every side," he said of his focus next season. "I want to be better every day, every chance. I work on every side, defense too."