The 2025 version of our Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25 countdown list continues with another of the Penguins’ three first-round draft picks from the 2025 NHL Draft class.

Catch up on the previous entries for this year:

Acquired Via: First-round pick (No. 11 overall) in 2025 NHL Draft

Height/Weight: 5-foot-11, 181 pounds

Ben Kindel was seen as a first round pick but not quite as high as 11th overall heading into the NHL draft. The Penguins felt differently than most observers and were quick to scoop Kindel up with their first lottery pick that they’ve made since back in 2012.

“His intelligence hockey sense relative to this class is elite,” Pittsburgh Vice President of Player Personnel Wes Clark said after the draft. “99 points [for WHL Calgary], understands the game at a super high level. Just big belief in Ben in terms of the upside, [he] influences the game on both sides of the puck. Yeah, we think the upside is sky high and we will do our best to help him improve in the areas he needs to improve in and see where it goes.”

Based on his point production, that might be going far. Kindel wasn’t a favorite prospect everywhere, but Top Down Hockey has enough data to project him right now as one of the most solid bets in the 2025 draft.

Neutral Zone’s scouting report on Kindel highlights scoring chance generation. Kindel has a decent shot, but it’s his vision and playmaking that usually creates chances for teammates. That skillset and proclivity towards being smart and seeing the ice well is what makes him a favorite of Clark and Kyle Dubas.

Kindel was one of the WHL’s hottest prospects last season, and the Penguins are betting high on his upside. He’s equally good as a shooter and a playmaker and is the driving force of Calgary’s attack. Kindel does a great job of finding open space and exploiting it, and he has a shot he can unleash from just about anywhere. Below-average skating and a lack of a physical edge knock him down a few pegs, but that’s where he is right now. Give him time with some pro hockey coaches and I’ll be much less concerned. I don’t think he’s a future first-liner, but he could be a solid second-liner.

Kindel has already signed his entry level contract with the Penguins, but is expected to be back in Calgary for the 2025-26 season. Things could get interesting in 2026-27, though, with the new NHL/CHL rules that will permit one 19-year old per NHL organization to skip their final year of juniors and enter into the AHL one season quicker. Kindel looks like the poster boy of players this rule could apply to and help in his future development to move up the ranks a little quicker.

Until then, there’s experience to be gained at the WHL level. Kindel can use the time to pack on more strength and hone his craft in juniors, where he should be one of the absolute top players in that league after several high profile defections (and considering he already finished seventh in league scoring last season). Kindel was a part of Team Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase, scoring a goal against the Americans.

It goes without saying that Kindel is a huge piece of the puzzle for the future of the Penguins. He’s arguably the first earned piece of their rebuild, coming by way of a high draft pick the team earned through poor performance on the ice. He was picked out of a big crowd of potential draftees and the spotlight will be on him to justify the team’s decision. It’s still a wide open future about whether he will play center or end up at wing, and if he can develop into the player the Pens think he can. It’s a big bet, but one that Dubas and Clark look comfortable and confident in. All that’s left is the waiting game to see how it ends up, a process that takes its first steps this season for Kindel in junior. He’ll be off the radar this season from the Penguin perspective — but probably not for too much longer.