The Pittsburgh Penguins may have to open the 2026-27 season without one of their most useful young pieces.
Center Benjamin Kindel has been moved to week-to-week after sustaining a lower-body injury in the first period of Monday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres, director of minor league operations Amanda Kessel told media including Dan Potash of SportsNet Pittsburgh. Kindel had originally been listed as day-to-day.
That’s a tough turn for a player who looked ready for a bigger role. Kindel was the breakout story on the 2025-26 roster, finishing with 17 goals and 35 points in a sturdy middle-six assignment when many expected him to be back in juniors.
He is also one of just five Penguins to post at least 30 points in his age-18 season, joining Sidney Crosby (102), Jaromir Jagr (57), Jordan Staal (42), and Doug Bodger (31). Every player in that group, including Bodger, went on to increase their scoring as their careers moved along.
Kindel’s value went beyond offense. His effort level and defensive work helped make him a dependable part of Pittsburgh’s center group.
He logged the second-most faceoffs on the team with 649, trailing only Crosby’s 1,401, and won 43.6 percent of them. He also chipped in 58 shot blocks, third-most among the club’s forwards.
All of that had put him in position for a bigger workload this season.
Now the Penguins have to adjust quickly with the regular season set to begin in six days. Kindel is expected to miss time, and his absence would likely push Thomas Novak into the second-line center spot, with Connor Dewar and Hendrix Lapierre sliding into the openings behind him. Lapierre, who came over from the Washington Capitals over the summer, could get a particularly valuable chance to make an early impression.
Pittsburgh has four games in the first seven days of the season, so Kindel has only a short window to get back before regular-season action starts to pile up.
In Other News...
Penguins Camp Cuts Put Real Pressure On The Opening Night Battle
The first round of training camp cuts in Pittsburgh has already sharpened the conversation around the opening-night roster. Pittsburgh Hockey Nows latest look at the group laid out a projected lineup and noted that there could still be more movement once the season gets going, which is exactly the kind of pressure camp cuts are meant to create. For players on the bubble, every practice rep now feels a little heavier, because the margin between making the team and becoming a later-season option is starting to narrow.
The Penguins are not the only club dealing with roster and depth questions across the league, but their camp decisions carry immediate weight as the team tries to settle on its best group. With some NHL goalies available on waivers and other unsigned players still lingering on the market, the broader picture suggests there may be chances to adjust after opening night. For now, though, the focus in Pittsburgh is on who sticks, who gets sent down and which names remain in the mix if injuries or performance force a change. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Prospect Ben Kindel Faces A Bigger Setback Than Expected
Ben Kindels first preseason game for the Penguins ended with an injury in the opening period, and the initial concern has only grown since then. What was first expected to be a shorter absence is now described as week-to-week, leaving the young center out for an undetermined stretch and putting a temporary halt to a chance to make an early impression in camp.
For an organization already balancing prospect development with the realities of its minor league pipeline, the setback comes at an inconvenient time. Pittsburgh has spent plenty of attention on making that system more functional and more competitive, even as travel issues continue to linger around the ECHL affiliates relocation, and Kindels recovery now becomes another part of a broader development picture the Penguins are trying to manage carefully. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Opening Night Plans Already Face Another Lineup Problem
The Penguins are already juggling their lineup as opening night nears, and the latest update only adds to the uncertainty. Ben Kindel has gone from day-to-day to week-to-week after getting hurt in the first period of a preseason game, leaving the club to keep reshuffling its forward group while trying to get a read on what the fourth line might look like once the games count.
Filip Hallander, Connor Dewar and Elmer Soderblom have been skating together as a possible fourth-line combination, but the picture is still cloudy with center Blake Lizotte also sidelined on a week-to-week basis. Andrei Kuzmenko is away from the team because of a family matter, so Pittsburgh is entering the final stretch of camp with more questions than answers about how its opening-night lineup will come together. [Read more 🡒]