MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Marcus Broberg just smiled when asked the question.
The younger brother of St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg, who played at the University of Nebraska-Omaha as a freshman last season, was asked if he's ever been mistaken for his older brother.
"It's happened, but not too much," Marcus said. "I just say, 'No, I'm his younger brother.'"
And when the Blues held their development camp the first week of July, perhaps those that came out to watch practices and 3-on-3 scrimmages noticed the name 'Broberg' on the back of a jersey, not realizing it wasn't the Broberg they came to admire in his first season with the Blues last season but a different Broberg.
Philip of course is No. 6 with the Blues. This Broberg happened to be wearing No. 82, and Marcus Broberg was an invitee for the four-day camp.
"It's been great so far," Marcus said a couple days into camp. "I love the experience. It's great to come around the many great guys here and this atmosphere and organization to see how it is at the NHL level. It's been a great experience.
"I just want to try and learn as much as possible, try to take away with me as much as possible. All the small details and the coaches. They've got great coaches here and to just learn as much as possible from them and take that back with me to Omaha and put that to use."
No, Marcus Broberg, also a defenseman, isn't going to make the Blues next season and join his brother; he will be a sophomore with the Mavericks next season after scoring a goal and adding eight assists in 27 games in 2024-25.
But taking in this experience, learning the tricks and the trade of NHL life -- even with fellow invitees and prospects -- is good for the development of what Marcus Broberg (5-foot-11, 175 pounds) hopes is a future as a pro one day in store for the Orebro, Sweden native.
And having a brother's brain to pick about it can only do wonders.
"For sure. It's great seeing someone that close to you being able to make it and just to see from his point of view what it takes, just knowing that if you put in the effort, it's possible," Marcus said of Philip. "I'm really fortunate to have a brother like that. We learn stuff from each other. I like to think that I give him a hard time on the ice and off the ice too, maybe make him want to learn one or two things."
Philip Broberg has been back in their native Sweden during the off-season, but don't think for a second he wasn't keeping tabs on little brother here in St. Louis.
"We talk quite a bit," Marcus said. "We talked (every day of camp), probably for a whole hour. He's back in Sweden, but he told me to call him in the morning. He wants to know how it's going and what I think about ... he's talked about all the great, different coaches. It's nice to have that banter back and forth with them what Philip said. He gives me a lot of advice just about the training, the eating and sleeping, all the small things that you don't see."
Marcus Broberg, 21, knew what he was in town for: to absorb as much information as possible with the hopes of taking it back with him to Omaha and apply things in a better way in the second half of the season.
"Yeah, I was very impressed with my year last year," Marcus said. "Obviously you want more and you want to chase and get better. I'm very happy with the progress that I made. I thought that showed on the ice, and I'm just very excited for next year and hope what I take in here, I can apply it to my game moving forward."
Marcus said he followed Philip's career since he entered the NHL and was happy for him to get an expanded role after moving to St. Louis.
"Of course. And I managed to come here for a week," Marcus said. "I got to see the locker rooms and managed to get three games in. We always follow each other. We keep in touch a lot, how the season goes and what's up, ways we can improve, what's going good and what you can change. We help each other a lot."
That doesn't mean there isn't playful back and forth banter, especially when the topic of who's better comes up.
"Right now he's obviously a couple steps ahead for sure," Marcus said. "It doesn't come up that often, but we always compete in different sports all the time. We have that competitiveness in between us for sure.
"But in the end, we always pull for each other. That's what brothers do. I want him to do well, he wants me to do well. That's what it's all about."