Ben Kindel deserves the 9-game trial on the Penguins roster

At the end of the 2024-2025 NHL season, it was evident that the Penguins had quite the shot to get into the top 10 of the Draft. But their NHL Lottery luck was not there that night and they ended up with the 11th overall pick rather than jumping into the top 10. But no fear, the Penguins front office and general manager Kyle Dubas knew what they were doing.

With the 11th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Penguins selected Benjamin Kindel. But later after Dubas made the pick, it was met with a lot of criticism. It was met with the fact that a lot of fans and general managers around the league thought the Penguins reached for Kindel.

Lots of people thought that Kindel could have been had later in the first round than where the Penguins were able to select him. But Kindel has been proving the doubters wrong, as he participated earlier this past summer in the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo and has been playing in the preseason for the Penguins.

Kindel recently scored a goal against the Detroit Red Wings on the road in the Penguins latest preseason game. He took a nice pass from forward Avery Hayes and zipped a shot into the back of the net.

One of Kindel's major strengths coming into the recent NHL Draft was his shot. And was it on display as he ripped the puck past John Gibson to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period. Kindel is only 18 years old, but head coach Dan Muse and Kyle Dubas have preached they will roster the best players out of camp/the preseason.

Kindel seems to be one of those players. Sure, he could use some more seasoning in the juniors, but he definitely deserves to get the nine games that rookies get, if they make the NHL. If they make it past nine games on the roster, they burn a year off of their rookie deal. And so far, Kindel has definitely proved that he belongs on the Penguins opening night roster.