Ben Kindel looks every bit like someone who just had his 18th birthday April 19.<\/p>\n
He has a thick shock of curly, unkempt hair and a complexion devoid of wrinkles.<\/p>\n
Plus, his five o\u2019clock shadow looks as if it\u2019s on west coast time.<\/p>\n
Of American Samoa.<\/p>\n
There is one blemish that deviates from his otherwise cherubic appearance, however.<\/p>\n
A big cut over the bridge of his nose.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect suffered the abrasion during a 4-1 road preseason loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what exactly happened, but I just came out of the corner,\u201d Kindel said in Cranberry on Monday. \u201cI felt my nose started bleeding. Had to get patched up a bit, but it\u2019s all good now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look great, but I guess I don\u2019t mind it. I look a bit more like a hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kindel has looked like the hockey player the Penguins were hoping for when they selected him No. 11 overall of the NHL Draft in June, well ahead of where several mock drafts had forecast.<\/p>\n
This preseason, Kindel has been deployed on three of the team\u2019s four lines while appearing in a team-leading four games, including Monday\u2019s 2-1 road win against the Detroit Red Wings.<\/p>\n
Starting the contest as the second-line center, he opened the scoring with his first goal of the exhibition slate.<\/p>\n
Kindy gets us going ???? pic.twitter.com\/gvUDqbACXo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Kindel, who signed his three-year entry-level contract in July, led the contest with five shots, boosting his preseason total to a team-best 11.<\/p>\n After Monday\u2019s morning skate, he seemingly manifested that night\u2019s goal into existence while discussing the number of scoring opportunities he had manufactured in his first three contests.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I\u2019d like to convert at some point,\u201d said Kindel, a right-handed shot. \u201cHopefully, get my scoring touch here soon. But it\u2019s definitely easier when you\u2019re getting the chances versus you get bit more frustrated when you\u2019re not getting the chances. I\u2019m happy, at least, that they\u2019re coming. I know eventually the puck will start to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t seem like the Penguins are ready to start sitting Kindel for their final two games of the preseason. He has earned his playing time.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these decisions are also based on what we\u2019ve been seeing and how he\u2019s played,\u201d coach Dan Muse said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t come in here saying (at the start of training camp) that he was going to play in these four games. That wasn\u2019t the case. You get little bit of a starting point and as we go, you want to see guys in more situations. It\u2019s been good for him. If we didn\u2019t feel that way, we wouldn\u2019t have him playing.\u201d<\/p>\n If Kindel winds up playing games in the regular season, that\u2019s another matter.<\/p>\n Players who are eligible to play at the junior level can appear in nine regular season NHL contests without burning the first year of their entry-level contract. It\u2019s something of a \u201ctryout\u201d to see if they are ready for the NHL.<\/p>\n Considering Kindel (5-foot-11, 182 pounds) is just starting his professional career and that the Penguins are largely focused on long-term development of their prospects, it\u2019s likely he will be returned to his junior team, the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, at some point.<\/p>\n But he\u2019s certainly given Penguins\u2019 management something to look at.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery rep you get just helps build confidence,\u201d Kindel said. \u201cPut another brick down each day. Every chance I get, I think it really helps me. And I\u2019m grateful for the opportunities that I\u2019m getting.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Tuesday.<\/p>\n Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n