Penguins Reassign Tristan Broz, Oliver Okuliar

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have assigned forwards Tristan Broz and Oliver Okuliar to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Both players were designated as injured/non-roster at the beginning of the season after suffering preseason injuries.

Broz, 23, is the more prominent prospect of the two. The River Falls, WI, native was drafted with the 58th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut in November of last year. Other than his one appearance with Pittsburgh, Broz’s professional career has been spent exclusively with the WBS Penguins.

A former national champion with the University of Denver, Broz has blossomed into a quality secondary scorer in the AHL. Throughout his first season, Broz registered 19 goals and 37 points in 59 games with a -7 rating. Additionally, he tallied one goal and three points in two postseason contests. The following season, during the 2025-26 campaign, Broz registered 16 goals and 39 points in 47 games with a +18 rating. The AHL Penguins had a much deeper playoff run last year, allowing Broz to finish with three goals and 11 points in 15 playoff games.

Given how many injuries Pittsburgh began the 2026-27 season with, Broz may have made the opening night roster had he not suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s preseason finale. Still, it wasn’t a guarantee since he finished preseason with zero points in three contests.

Meanwhile, Okuliar, 26, is more of an unknown in Pittsburgh’s system. The Penguins acquired him over the summer from the Florida Panthers for disgruntled defenseman Emil Pieniniemi, and signed Okuliar to a one-year contract a few days later. Although Okuliar had spent last season overseas, the Panthers retained his contractual rights since they signed him before the 2024-25 season.

There’s no question Okuliar is on the older side of prospect status, but he is coming off a strong season with the SHL’s Skellefteå AIK. In his lone professional campaign in Sweden, the Trencin, Slovakia, native scored 15 goals and 29 points in 46 games with a +17 rating, potting another six goals and 13 points in 15 postseason appearances. He will face stiffer competition in the AHL, but if he performs well, he could earn a spot on the Penguins’ roster as an injury replacement throughout the year.