Prospect Info: Jan Drozg | Left Wing | Leksands J20 (Swedish Juniors) | 5th round, 152nd overall

[Burgs]

Jan Drozg

Born: April 1, 1999 in Maribor, Slovenia
Size: 6'0", 174 lbs
Shoots: Right

- Slovenian forward who moved to Sweden at age 16 to play junior hockey (similar to the route Anze Kopitar took)
- spent most of his draft year playing for Leksand's U18 team (totalling 20-32-52 with 26 PIM and a +23 in 39 games)
- finished the season on Leksand's U20 team (4-2-6 with 0 PIM and a +5 in 6 games)
- represented Slovenia at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 U18 Div-IB (third tier) World Championships (12-14-26, 6 PIM, +11 in 15 gp), earning Best Forward and Best Faceoff Man in 2016 and 2017, was top scorer and won promotion to Div-IA in 2017
- also played for Slovenia at the 2017 WJC Div-IB (1-2-3, 2 PIM, +0 in 3 games)
- will join Zachary Lauzon on the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for 2017-18 re-drafted to the QMJHL by Shawinigan, will play for the Cataractres in 2017-18
- pre-draft rankings: unranked

From Randy Sexton, Penguins Director of Amateur Scouting:
“Jan Drozg is a little bit of a late-bloomer. He’s from Slovenia, moved to Sweden and really caught our guys’ eyes in the second half of the year. We brought him to Pittsburgh for our combine, he performed very well and that really helped us kind of get over the top to take him. He’s an offensive player. He’s very slender, needs time to put on strength, but we’re excited to have him because he brings some offense.”

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[Paulie Gualtieri]

Sweet name.

 

[Pharrell Williams]

Kneel before Drozg.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Seems like a true boom/bust prospect, I like taking risks like this with late round picks. He may turn out to be nothing, but he torched the U18 Swedish junior league.

 

[Jacob]

Where's he gonna play next season? Probably Move up to the U20 squad full time, then SweHL after that?

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Almost exactly the same size as Sprong, and it sounds like a similar skill set.

Me likey.

 

[Pharrell Williams]

so why's he unranked

 

[Asuna]

sounds like the dominik simon pick

 

[HandshakeLine]

But yeah, a good swing for the fences type of pick, I think. Hopefully he can bulk up a little and come over soon.

 

[Empoleon8771]

so why's he unranked

Probably because he only played in the Swedish U18 junior league, when most prospects drafted from Sweden come from their U20 junior league.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Had this guy ranked 152nd on my list, too... strictly because of the name. Otherwise no ranking.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Kinda neat to draft a Slovenian.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Drozg's CHL rights are held by Rouyn-Noranda and it seems like the expectation is that he was heading there this coming season.

The Huskies already have Lauzon on their roster, so there's your Q team to watch the next couple years.

 

[Giskard]

Drozg's CHL rights are held by Rouyn-Noranda and it seems like the expectation is that he was heading there this coming season.

The Huskies already have Lauzon on their roster, so there's your Q team to watch the next couple years.

Q-ool

 

[Jacob]

Drozg's CHL rights are held by Rouyn-Noranda and it seems like the expectation is that he was heading there this coming season.

The Huskies already have Lauzon on their roster, so there's your Q team to watch the next couple years.

They're losing a bunch of forwards that are overagers or turning pro too, so it seems like a good fit for him.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

Aw yeah Slovenia

 

[madinsomniac]

Seems like a true boom/bust prospect, I like taking risks like this with late round picks. He may turn out to be nothing, but he torched the U18 Swedish junior league.

Yep going with the guy who has a small chance of having high upper talent level is better than grabbing a guy who's likely to pan out as a barely 4 line ahl nhl tweener...

 

[mrkolice]

hi from slovenia, lak fan here. i've followed jan drozg before he moved to sweden and he is a huge talent, his ex coaches often compared him with kopitar, not in terms of skillset but how he dominated his generation and how the sky is the limit. he just gave the first short interview for slovenian media admitting he was not expecting to be drafted this year but that he will come to pittsburgh in two days, "for a training and to discuss where i will play next season, pens will decide that." i'm glad for him and i'm glad for your team, pens got a gem.

 

[wej20]

Thanks, how do you pronounce his name?

 

[marone]

Love Drozg, but i hate it's Pens who took him. Good Luck Jan.

 

[mrkolice]

dr
o - just o, not ow
zg - that takes some practice z is like "rose" and g is like "dig"

 

[wej20]

dr
o - just o, not ow
zg - that takes some practice z is like "rose" and g is like "dig"

Thanks, is this guy saying it right?

 

[mrkolice]

yes, that's perfect

 

[Ortos]

Where's he gonna play next season? Probably Move up to the U20 squad full time, then SweHL after that?

Leksand got degraded to Allsvenskan (SEL-2) this year, and seems to give a lot of the juniors a chance this coming year, so he might see some play at the mens team to in case of injuries. But probably U20 most of the time.

 

[Brandinho]

Slovenes are fun people and that's a cool name, which already puts him near the top of this seemingly questionable draft class.