Bruno Idzan Has Figured Out What Works for Him Ahead of 2025 NHL Draft
Bruno Idzan isn’t the flashiest prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft. He won’t headline any mock drafts or trend on social media. But the 6-foot, 195-pound Croatian winger has done something far more valuable: he’s made himself impossible to ignore in the rooms that matter.
After a standout 36-game run with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, where he posted 44 points and made a seamless transition to the North American game, Idzan has earned the attention of NHL scouts and college recruiters alike.
“I think it was really good overall,” Idzan said of his season. “I think I developed a lot, played well, and I was a better player at the end of the year than I was at the start. And with all the media attention and NHL attention, it couldn't have been better than it was.”
Before arriving in the USHL, Idzan had been playing in the Alps Hockey League, an environment he quickly realized wouldn’t open NHL doors.
“I didn’t get any NHL or even college-like attention or anything,” he said. “They just don’t bother scouting it. And as soon as I came over to the USHL, I got all the attention from colleges and NHL teams. The season went super quick, and everything just kept rolling.”
That momentum came not from flashy playmaking or gaudy toe-drags, but from hard-nosed, honest hockey. Idzan thrives in the dirty areas, battling netfront, firing quick one-timers from the slot, and grinding through contact.
“I try to stick to what I do best: competing in the dirty areas and shooting the puck. One-touch shots and slot plays, that’s my area,” he said. “I haven’t really changed much, but the game here is faster. The smaller ice, the higher skill in the USHL, you have to be more aware.”
There’s an edge to his game that can’t be faked. And he’s learned to use that grit as a separator.
"That's a hard place on the ice to play. You're going to get a lot of contact,” Idzan said. “I think it makes a player stand out to go there. It shows your will and competitiveness. And I just like to do it. I like to go there.”
The adaptation to the North American style didn’t come without growing pains, both in pace and discipline.
“In the first 10 games, I think I had 20 penalty minutes,” he said with a laugh. “In the men's league [back home], you can push a guy a bit with your stick and if he falls, the ref just says, ‘Get up, it was nothing.’ In the USHL, they call everything.”
One criticism Idzan has heard, and doesn’t shy away from, is his skating.
“People say I’m an ugly skater, and I know that,” he admitted. “I haven’t really had the training in Croatia to be a good skater. But I don’t think I’m slow. I’m just… an ugly skater, let’s say it like that.”
He’s already working on it. This summer, Idzan will be in Wisconsin preparing for the 2026–27 NCAA season, focusing on skating development with a coach to refine his stride.
While skating might need work, his hands and release are NHL-calibre. His one-timer is a particular weapon, especially on the power play.
“I score most of my goals on my one-timers,” he said with a smile. “I shoot a lot.”
Despite being passed over last year, Idzan hasn’t felt the pressure of being a draft-plus-one. He wasn’t invited to the NHL Combine, but he’s been in steady contact with teams and is confident in the process, whether his name is called in Los Angeles or not.
“I’m not stressed about it,” he said. “Next year is fine.”
Off the ice, Idzan keeps things light. When he’s not on the rink, he’s playing basketball with friends, fittingly, doing the same dirty work that defines his hockey game.
“I’m more under the basket. I get rebounds and do the dirty work,” he said with a grin. “At the end of the game, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that guy.’”
Idzan wants to be “that guy” in Lincoln again next year. He’s clear-eyed about his strengths and steady in his belief that hard, detailed work will get him where he wants to go.
And so far, everything’s going to plan.