When the Penguins started their California road trip earlier in the week, they likely expected the kids to be in the lineup for both games against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, but that was not the case. Head coach Dan Muse has hinted that there is a development plan in place for Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel and that could really mean good things for both of them.
Muse started with the game against the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night by giving Brunicke a break and scratching him in favor of veterans Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton. Doing this could signal that Brunicke is going to stick around for the entirety of the Penguins' 2025 NHL season. He has nothing left to prove in juniors and scratching him every now and then, as a 19-year old, is no problem.
Same thing can be said for Kindel. The Penguins dropped the game to the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 late on a powerplay goal by noted Penguins killer Chris Kreider. But then when the Kings game came around on Thursday night, Kindel was scratched in favor of putting veteran Noel Acciari back in the lineup.
Like Brunicke, scratching Kindel, who like Brunicke, does not have much experience playing tough NHL competition at the young age of 18, is a good thing. Nobody expects the young kids that have not even hit their 20s yet, to be able to play every single game of an 82-game NHL season.
Especially the fact that Brunicke was drafted last year in 2024 and Kindel was drafted this year in 2025. These kids are going to have to learn how to keep up with NHL speed and play this tough competition for the years to come, but Muse is a developmental coach and knows what he is doing.
Scratching them every now and then in favor of vets, signals that they are going to stick around on the team for the entire season. Both of them are deserving of sticking around as both had great training camps and are proving their worth to the Penguins coaching staff.
With that said, Penguins fans should not freak out in the future if the kids keep getting scratched here and there. It will really help them in their development watching a few games from the press box and really learning and figuring out what they can fix and what they do well. But with Muse and staff, Kindel and Brunicke are in good hands.