The 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins might not be particularly good as a team. Especially when it comes to their defense and current level of goaltending. But they do have some good players, and they have some really intriguing young players that could be really good players in the coming seasons. The best of that group is 18-year-old center, and 2025 first-round pick, Ben Kindel.
If you did not watch any Penguins games and simply looked at his numbers you probably would not be overly impressed.
Eight goals,
14 total points and 74 shots on goal in 33 games probably seems fine for an 18-year-old rookie, but not anything that would really wow you. Mostly because we only tend to get truly wowed by the players that instantly step into the NHL and dominate (which are very few and very far between), or the No. 1 overall picks that naturally get the most eye balls on them.
The thing is, Kindel’s production is outstanding for an 18-year-old and is giving him a pretty good first impression in the NHL. Especially since it is not just about his actual offensive production.
First, let’s just look at some basic numbers comparing him to other 18-year-olds.
Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Kindel is one of just nine 18-year-olds that have reached eight goals and 70 shots on goal through the first 33 games of their career. The other players on that list are Patrik Laine, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Andrew Svechnikov, Matthew Schaefer, David Pastrnak, Matt Duchene and Jeff Skinner.
Pretty good list to be a part of.
There have been more than 61 18-year-olds that have played at least nine games in the NHL since the start of the 2007-08 season. Many of them did not get beyond the nine-game cup of coffee to start the season, and of the ones that did, most of them did not produce big numbers, or even what Kindel has done so far.
So to make it this far into the season and still be productive, that is an encouraging sign for what Kindel is capable of.
But let’s take it one step further.
Let’s just look at ANY teenager performance. Among all players in their age 18 or 19 season, regardless of rookie status (so this includes second-year players as well), Kindel is one of just 33 players under the age of 20 to have at least eight goals and 70 shots on goal through the first 33 games of their season. And that is out of 176 players that played at least 33 games in their age 18 or 19 season over that time period.
Again: Good company to be a part of, especially since the overwhelming majority of players his production lines up with went on to be legitimate top-six or first-line players.
Goal-scoring and generating shots on goal, however, are just part of the story with Kindel.
He is also already one of the Penguins’ best play-drivers from a possession standpoint. He has a 55.1 percent shot attempt share. That is one of the best marks on the Penguins. He also has a 57.3 percent expected goals share. That is also one of the best marks on the Penguins. Every line he has been a part of players better territorially with him on it. When he is on the ice, good things are generally happening for the Penguins. That is crazy good and advanced play for an 18-year-old center.
So with that in mind, let us expand our comparison search another level.
With eight goals in 33 games Kindel is on a 20-goal pace over 82 games. He is averaging around .250 goals per game. He also has that 55 percent shot attempt share.
Since the start of the 2007-08 season only six teenagers (18 or 19) scored at a 20-goal pace (.250 goals per game) and had a shot attempt share of better than even 52 percent over 50 games. That list includes only Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Dylan Larkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Patrick Kane and Seth Jarvis. If Kindel can maintain his current pace in both areas, that would again put him into some pretty good recent company.
The Penguins obviously had high hopes for Kindel when they picked him. Otherwise they would not have been ecstatic to take him with the No. 11 overall pick. I am not sure they counted on him being this good all over the ice so quickly. He might not be their franchise-changing player in the future, but he still has a chance to be a top player (and important player) on the next contending Penguins team. The start of his career certainly paints that picture. Especially if he can keep building on this rookie season performance.
[Data in this post via Natural Stat Trick and Hockey-Reference StatHead database]
