Penguins forward prospect Tristan Broz has missed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's last seven games and will still be out for a while

Pittsburgh Penguins top forward prospect Tristan Broz has missed the last seven games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) - Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate - and did not make the team's recent road trip.

On Sunday, there was finally some clarification as to why.

Per Tony Androckitis - reporter for Inside AHL Hockey covering WBS - Broz has been battling mono and will remain out of the lineup until he's cleared for contact.

It is not clear how long the timeline for Broz's return will be, but given mono's affect on the body - and the weight loss and energy loss often associated with the illness for weeks, even months - it's a good bet that the forward will still miss a decent length of time to get back into game shape through conditioning.

He was set to take the ice on his own Sunday, marking the first step in his rehab process.

A River Falls, Wi. native, Broz, 22, has been enjoying a promising first season in professional hockey with WBS, registering 12 goals and 19 points in 27 games. He previously played for the University of Denver, where had 26 goals and 68 points in 83 games and scored the overtime winner to send his team to the 2024 National Championship game - where he scored the game-winning goal en route to Denver's NCAA crown.

Broz has developed into a well-rounded player at the professional level, and he seemed to be one of the top prospect candidates on track to join the NHL roster soon. With the NHL club likely to sell some of their players before the trade deadline on Mar. 7, Broz will be a prospect to keep an eye on, depending on his status.