Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Ben Kindel continues to strengthen his case to stick around in the NHL, which could be bad news for Canada's world junior squad.
Had Ben Kindel managed to score a hat trick Monday night, it would not have been the first time a Penguins 18-year-old center potted three goals in Toronto.
That distinction belongs to Jordan Staal, who on Feb. 10, 2007 scored a hattie in a 6-5 overtime win at the then-Air Canada Centre.
Now, Kindel likely won't score 29 goals this season the way Staal did, and the two are very different players, but Kindel is getting a good number of people excited with his play at both ends of the ice.
Kindel scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season in a gut-punch 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night, giving every indication he plans to be in the NHL for the entire 2025-26 season. And that is indeed bad news for Canada's world junior team.
The Penguins also have 19-year-old defenseman Harrison Brunicke on their roster, but they likely won't for much longer. He had a rough outing against Winnipeg on the weekend and was minus-2 against the Leafs. There's a much better chance he'll be available to Canada by the time they open camp.
Watch today's video column up above for the full story.
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