Pittsburgh is already facing a littany of forward injuries just one week into the pre-season
Only one week into the pre-season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the injury situation already seems to be catching up to them.
And a not-so-promising update about a key young forward only added to those concerns.
On Thursday, Penguins' director of minor league operations and WBS assistant general manager Amanda Kessel said that forward Ben Kindel's lower-body injury, which he sustained during Monday's preseason-opening 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, is looking more "week-to-week" and that the team is still awaiting some testing and evaluation before a better timeline can be established.
"That's the only major injury update. It's looking more week-to-week at this point," Kessel said. "We waiting for more testing results today, but if anything changes on that, we'll update as soon as possible."
Kindel, 19, is entering his second season with the Penguins after putting up 17 goals and 35 points in his first full NHL campaign as an 18-year-old in 2025-26. Expectations are elevated for Kindel this season, as he put on weight during the summer, looks a step faster and began training camp on a third line with Bryan Rust and Andrei Kuzmenko, whose father was tragically killed in a bear attack Wednesday and who left the team Thursday to be with his family in Russia.
Even though there are several young forwards pushing for roster spots who can benefit from some NHL runway in the absence of Kindel - including centers Filip Hallander and Tristan Broz as well as forwards Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, and Ville Koivunen - he joins an already-growing list of absences for the Penguins on the forward front. Kuzmenko's leave is indefinite at this time, center Blake Lizotte is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, forward Oliver Okuliar is also week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and forward Justin Brazeau is day-to-day but skated with the team Thursday.
The Penguins have two more preseason games - Thursday in Columbus and Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo - before their regular season opens on Sept. 30 in Philadelphia against the cross-state rival Flyers.
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