Penguins sign Ben Kindel to three-year, entry-level contract
A recent draftee has inked his first NHL deal.
On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas announced the team has signed forward Ben Kindel to a three-year, entry-level contract.
It's official ✍️
The Penguins have signed forward Ben Kindel to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Details: https://t.co/LpySva4aJw pic.twitter.com/sWTgpIjAcU
Kindel was just taken by the Penguins in the first round, 11th overall, of the 2025 NHL Draft. He came off an impressive 2024-25 season with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, where he set career highs in goals (35), assists (64) and points (99) in 65 regular-season games. The 18-year-old ended up finishing second on the team in scoring, earning East Division First-Team All-Star honors.
He notched 15 points in 11 postseason games, as Calgary made it to the second round before being eliminated by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in seven games.
Daily Faceoff draft expert Steven Ellis said Kindel snuck up on a lot of people heading into this year’s draft, but there’s a reason why the Penguins thought highly of the winger.
“Kindel has been one of the WHL’s hottest prospects this season,” Ellis wrote. “And he’s quickly becoming one of the most popular names in the public scouting sphere. 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 many teams should consider him for his pure puck skills and solid all-around improvement.”
Kindel has played two full years with the Hitmen, scoring 50 goals and 109 assists for 159 points in 134 regular-season games. He has the chance to make the Penguins roster out of training camp next year, or end up going back to Calgary for another year.
Along with his solid junior career, the Coquitlam, British Columbia native has taken home some international hardware. Last fall, he won the gold medal with Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, before taking home the gold at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship.