Penguins forward prospect Jan Drozg will get an opportunity to chase his NHL dream elsewhere.
The Penguins loaned Drozg to the Red Wings organization for the remainder of the season. Drozg will play for Detroit's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Drozg was set to be a restricted free agent this offseason and was unlikely to be re-signed. The loan to Detroit allows Drozg the opportunity to get some playing time to finish the season and try to earn a contract with Detroit for next season.
Drozg, 22, was the Penguins' fifth-round pick in 2017. He made his professional debut in 2018-19, and split the year between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre. He began the 2019-20 season in his native Slovenia due to COVID's impact on the AHL schedule, then spent the full AHL season with Wilkes-Barre once it began, recording five goals and two assists in 30 games.
Drozg has been in and out of Wilkes-Barre's lineup this season. Many of the games he did play came in a bottom-six role, for which his game isn't exactly suited. He scored four goals and six assists in 23 games.
Drozg scored two goals in four games at the start of February, then was a healthy scratch until Wilkes-Barre's game this past Sunday.
I last spoke with J.D. Forrest about Drozg's game at the end of January, and asked what Drozg needed to do to earn a regular spot in the lineup.
"Janny's got a particular skill set with his speed, and he's got a dangerous shot," Forrest said. "For him it's more about finding that consistency and understanding the value in some other areas of the ice. That puck's important to us, we don't want to expose it, give it up. We have wall battle situations where we got to be better. ... It's a situation where you love his tools. And when he's going, he's very effective. It's a consistency thing. We're just trying to find that game that works for him where he feels good about bringing his skill set, and we feel good about what we're seeing out there as well."
In joining the Griffins, Drozg will have the opportunity to play for a team that like Wilkes-Barre, has a .500 record and is in a tight race for a playoff spot.
Slovenia is a small country, and has only produced two NHLers to date: Two-time Stanley Cup champion Anze Kopitar, who has played in 1,187 games over his 16 seasons with the Kings, and Jan Mursak, who played in the Red Wings' system from 2008-13 and played a total of 46 games in the NHL with Detroit.
Mursak and Drozg are from the same hometown of Maribor, and Drozg grew up rooting for the Red Wings because of Mursak. The two have worked together in the offseasons in Slovenia for the past several years.
"I've known him all my life," Drozg told me of Mursak in 2020. "When I was 10, 12 years old my dad was coaching him on the ice. He's like my friend. I know a lot about him and a lot of stories. He gives me advice. He's gone through all the hockey in North America and has a lot of experience. I ask him questions and he helps me."
Drozg now has the opportunity to follow in Mursak's footsteps with Detroit.
