Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years – and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft – top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News – Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization.
At No. 4, we tackle the final of the three 2025 first-round picks by the Penguins in Ben Kindel, who, arguably, has a higher ceiling than any other prospect in the organization.
When Ben Kindel’s name was called to the podium as the Penguins’ 11th overall selection at the 2025 NHL Draft, it came as a bit of a surprise to many. Several draft boards and fan predictions had the Penguins selecting players like Victor Eklund, Kashawn Aitcheson, and Justin Carbonneau, all of whom were ahead of Kindel in most mock drafts.
But after the selection, a little bit more digging by the hockey masses begged the question of why Kindel wasn’t rated top-10 to begin with.
One of the first reasons that might stand out is his size. At 5-foot-10, 176-pounds, he is a bit undersized and could stand to add a bit more weight as he develops. There is also the factor of whether or not his game will translate to the NHL level.
But everything else? The talent, skills, smarts, and production are hard to ignore.
Kindel, now 18, finished the 2024-25 his WHL season with the Calgary Hitmen with 35 goals and 99 points in 65 games, which was good enough for seventh in league scoring – just one point behind teammate Oliver Tulk. He also played with fellow Penguins’ prospect Tanner Howe, who tore his ACL in April and will be out through the end of the calendar year.
Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2025: Forward Prospect Continues To Build Two-Way Game
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
He is most known for his vision and playmaking ability, and he knows how to create offense and drive chance generation. He can feed teammates with perfect seam passes, he can generate from along the walls by winning a ton of puck battles, and he has versatility in terms of his two-way game.
Kindel also knows how to exploit the offensive zone and force defenders into mistakes. His anticipation is at a high level, he creates space,…