Kindel Working to Maximize His Potential

Ben Kindel was a revelation for the Penguins last season, earning a spot on the team’s opening-night roster after being drafted in the first round (11^th overall) just a few months earlier.

After scoring 17 goals while playing a responsible two-way game at just 18 years old, he returned home to British Columbia and had a productive summer of training.

Kindel reported to Penguins training camp in excellent shape and with a better understanding of what it takes to thrive both physically and mentally in what is now an 84-game regular season.

“It was a valuable experience getting to go through it last year (and have) all of those firsts,” said Kindel, who turned 19 in April. “Now, this year, I’m kind of comfortable going into the grind of the NHL season and experiencing all of those moments, like playing in the playoffs for the first time. I think it was a great experience for any young guy just to see what that is like.”

In the first part of training camp, Kindel centered a line with Bryan Rust and Andrei Kuzmenko, and the trio impressed in a limited sample.

Unfortunately, Kindel re-aggravated a lower-body injury during the preseason opener on September 24 versus Buffalo, and was sidelined for the rest of training camp. After missing the season opener on September 29 in Philadelphia, Kindel returned to the lineup in the home opener on October 3 versus Montreal.

Kindel said he wanted to create more offense and scoring chances for himself and his linemates, and so far, so good. Kindel scored in each of his first two games while slotting in on the top power-play unit.

“Obviously, he's a player that you see every game gets more confidence and gets better and better and better,” Rust said.

Kindel’s hockey sense is his biggest asset, with Penguins Vice President of Player Personnel Wes Clark describing it as “elite.” Adding more strength and speed to his foundation seems to have Kindel, the headliner of Pittsburgh’s youth movement, poised for a massive sophomore season.

“I know myself and a lot of the younger guys coming up, we're all really hungry to make a name for ourselves, make a name for the Penguins across the league,” Kindel said. “I think just trying to kind of push ourselves, at least do my part, to kind of reach my potential and push through that.”

Between last year and the early parts of this season, everyone in the organization has noticed the work Kindel has put in to work towards the best version of himself. What has made Kindel such a likable kid in the locker room is how eager he is to learn.

“He’s asking little questions here or there, but not just about hockey things, about how to kind of handle the lifestyle and how the season goes,” Rust said. “The kind of ebbs and flows. He listens when he needs to listen, but he also isn’t overly shy. It's hard to describe, but I think he just gets it. I think it's hard to find young guys who can kind of get that whole package.”

With Kindel’s rookie season being the success that it was, and the impact he has already made so early in this campaign, the sky is the limit for what No. 81 can accomplish in both the short and long term.

“Offensively, I think it's continuing to find those areas that I think he can find,” Muse said. “He's a young guy, and there's plenty of room for him to continue to grow off that pace. The same thing on the defensive side of the puck. He's a guy that he earned trust from the coaching staff last year based on his play. But now, how do you build on that?”