Bryan Rust Heaps Praise On Penguins’ ‘Extremely Smart’ Rookie Forward

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust is impressed with the play of rookie forward Ben Kindel.

The Penguins selected Kindel 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, and he made the team out of training camp. Kindel has made an impact right away, as he’s now playing on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rust.

In Pittsburgh’s 5-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday, Kindel recorded two assists, and Rust is impressed with his play.

“He’s an extremely smart kid, knows where to be on the ice, knows which plays to make,” Rust said postgame on Thursday. “And when you combine that intelligence with his skill level, obviously, really good things are going to happen.”

Despite being a rookie, Kindel has played well and has impressed the Penguins’ veteran players.

Kindel, meanwhile, believes playing alongside Crosby and Rust has made it easy to have success to begin the season.

“There’s a lot of communication,” Kindel said postgame. “It’s easy to play with those guys and just try and beat out for them. It was our first game together, but I think we started to build a little bit of chemistry, so we’ll see how it goes.”

With the two assists on Thursday, Kindel became just the ninth teenager in franchise history to record multiple points in back-to-back games, according to Penguins PR.

Kindel has five goals and two assists for seven points in 11 games this season with the Penguins.

Pittsburgh is off to a 9-4-2 start and will return to the ice on Saturday on the road against the New Jersey Devils.

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