Vitals
Player: Ben Kindel
Born: April 19, 2007 (Age 18 season)
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 182 pounds
Hometown: Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Shoots: Right
Draft: 2025 first round (11th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins
2025-26 Statistics: 77 games played, 17 goals, 18 assists = 35 points ; 6 games played, 0 goals, 0 assists in playoffs.
Contract Status: Kindel has two years left on his entry level contract valued at a miniscule $986,250 against the salary cap.
Story of the Season
When the Penguins drafted Ben Kindel 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, there was frustration among the fan base at what appeared to be a reach by Kyle Dubas, forgoing some more popular names still on the board in favor of selecting Kindel at this spot. As it turns out, Dubas and his scouting department did their homework and Kindel quickly made everyone forget about their angst from draft night.
Throughout the course of the summer and into the fall, it became clear that Kindel had something special about him and was going to figure into the Penguins rebuild in a significant way, but no one expected his impact to happen this soon. He stood out among the other prospects at development camp and the Prospects Challenge, but training camp is where he made his case to be on the opening night roster.
Even when Kindel made the team out of camp, most figured it was just going to be for a nine-game trial run before returning to the Calgary Hitmen for another WHL season to continue his development. That plan quickly went out the window and it was clear Kindel was set to be in Pittsburgh for the long run.
In just his third NHL game, Kindel scored his first career goal, the lone Penguins tally in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers. He will forever hold the distinction of being the first player from the 2025 draft class to score an NHL goal, beating out top overall pick and eventual Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer by a few minutes.
Even as Kindel blew through his nine game window and it was clear he was going to be with the team for the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign, it was still expected that he was going to have his work load managed as he acclimates to playing in the NHL.
That turned out to not be the case as well, with Kindel playing 77 games as a rookie, recording 17 goals and 18 assists. His 17 goals made him just the 12th player over the last 20 years to reach that number as an 18 year old, joining the likes of Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, and fellow 2025 first round pick Shaefer just to name a few.
While many figured Kindel to be a major piece of the Penguins future, he actually turned out to be a major part of their present as well. As the season went along and it was clear the Penguins were going to be in position to at least contend for a playoff spot, Kindel kept getting opportunities to prove himself and he kept making the most of every chance he got.
Although the season ended in a six game playoff series loss to the Philadelphia Flyers where Kindel did not record a point, he will enter his second NHL season in 2026-27 with valuable experience under his belt and a clear role with the Penguins as not just a part of the future, but with what the franchise is trying to accomplish right now.
Monthly Splits
It was a pretty consistent run across the board for Kindel in his rookie season when breaking it down by month. January was his strongest month with 10 points in 15 games and his solid March output was big for the team during its toughest stretch of the season and missing key pieces from the lineup. It’s not every day an 18 year old becomes a lineup mainstay in the NHL, but Kindel did just that and was performing on a consistent basis all season long.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 18 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
Corsi For%: 52.4% (4th)
Goals For%: 50.0% (13th)
xGF%: 51.5% (10th)
Scoring Chance %: 51.5% (7th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 53.2% (6th)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 8.7% (16th)
On-ice save%: .895% (12th)
Goals/60: 0.73 (12th)
Assist/60: 0.73 (15th)
Points/60: 1.45 (14th)
While Kindel’s score effects don’t jump off the page here, it’s a solid base to build off of for a 19 year old who will be entering his second NHL season in 2026-27 in a few months. If that shooting percentage trends upward then everything else should jump right along with it. He creates a ton in the high danger areas on the ice and helps drive possession overall.
Charts n’at
Via Advanced Hockey Stats and NHL Edge
It’s tough to not preface every statement with “he’s only 18” but my goodness, this type of offensive and defensive impact from an 18-year old center that wasn’t even a top-5 pick is almost unheard of. Kindel’s still got growth opportunities in terms of finishing and finding a comfort level on the power play, he’s got one heck of a base to work from at even strength.
Kindel is an active player all over the place. The goals and assist totals are nice but far from his only contribution. His defensive aptitude with puck touches are high. He’s good at exiting the zone, he’s pretty decent at entries. Rush offense, particularly setting up teammates is a hallmark of Kindel’s game. A lot of fine details under the hood that demonstrate value to the team. Even when going through some rookie struggles and cold production streaks that type of detail-oriented value add made him a lineup regular throughout the season and reliable player to send on the ice.
All around fun stuff here, as mentioned above Kindel is an active player that gets coverage all over the rink. He trusts his shooting talent with plenty of mid-range shots and has a pretty good one from the left side of the ice with the right handed blade seeing a lot of the net to score on 23.5% of his shots from that area.
One area of improvement detailed in these stats would be getting a little more efficient and frequency towards the front of the net. In this league players have to get to that area near the goal to boost their stats. Kindel frequently had some big bodies like Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau to fill that role, in the future seeing if he can attack the net more will be a big signal and shift towards unlocking even more.
Level of skating ability was something of a knock, if not question mark on Kindel during the draft process. He’s certainly not a burner that is going to pull away from opponents with straight-line speed, but he’s young and fresh enough to have plenty of jump and crafty enough to maneuver his way to being effective as a skater. Again, with age, experience and adding some muscle, this is an area that already is pretty decent but could be expected to show improvement as he continues to grow as a player.
In addition to being a good passer, responsible defensively and decent skater, Kindel’s wrist shot is another tool in his toolbox. (As you can tell, it’s a pretty full toolbox). He knows how to subtlety manipulate his shooting angle by drawing the puck in to fool goalies enough on the direction and timing of his shots, in the style like so many of his young contemporaries tend to do. Kindel won’t be confused for Auston Matthews as a total master of that skill, but he was able to find the time/space to get quite a few shots away to beat goalies from distance as a rookie and presumably will be able to use that experience for the future.
Highlights
Questions to ponder
You’ll hear a lot about a sophomore slump for Ben Kindel next season, so whether or not he can avoid falling into one will be the big question worth answering for him. Everything we saw from him in 2025-26 points to a long and productive career, but there will be bumps in the road and he will have to learn to adjust and work his way through those moments.
At one point this past season, Kindel went 19 games between goals, but once he broke out of that slump, he scored in three straight games along with four in six as well. It was a tough stretch of hockey for the rookie, but he never gave up on himself or got too down. The goal scoring touch returned and he gained his confidence back.
Expectations will be rightfully high for Kindel entering next season, but even the best players can go through slumps or dry spells. It will be how he reacts to those moments and learns from them that will ultimately determine how his 2026-27 plays out and what we are saying about his future this time next year.
Ideal 2026-27
Continued development should be a key focus for Kindel next season. He’s already established himself as an NHL player and has a full season plus playoff experience under his belt at just 19 years old. He’s coming off one of the best goal scoring seasons for an 18 year old in the last two decades, so building off of that will be incredibly important for himself and the franchise this coming season.
Where exactly Kindel will slot into the lineup remains to be seen and we should have a better idea of how it will all shake out once the summer slows down and rosters become clearer post free agency. If the plan is for Kindel to be a top-six player starting next season, then getting him as much ice time with a preferred set of linemates will be crucial to his continued development.
Bottom line
When Ben Kindel was drafted, there was angst among the fan base at the supposed reach for him at the 11th pick. That angst was washed away quickly when it became clear exactly what the Penguins were getting in Kindel. Of the ten players drafted before him, just six played an NHL game this season, only three played in 12 or more games, and one of those players is a potential generational talent.
Removing Shaefer from the equation, Kindel led all first round picks in games played, goals, assists, and points. His rookie season was a smashing success by every metric and he’s only going to get better as a player. There were ups and downs throughout the season, including the previously mentioned 19 game goal drought, but those are the types of growing pains you get with an 18 year old in his first professional season.
Final Grade
A.
What Ben Kindel did as a rookie at just 18 years old is not typical in the NHL. He exceeded every expectation by just making the team out of training camp, then just continued to trend upward as the season went along. His linemates varied throughout the season but he proved he could play with just about any body Dan Muse placed next to him.
When he was drafted, Kindel was seen as a major piece for the Penguins future as the plan was still to rebuild in 2025-26. That rebuild may now be ahead of schedule and Kindel is a major reason why, showing everyone why the Penguins valued him so highly to take him 11th overall.
