F Benjamin Kindel - WHL - Calgary Hitmen (2025 NHL Draft)

[gothegr8]

Just a big fan of this kid. Along with Schaefer, i think he's my favorite prospect for this year's draft. Smart, good skills and vision, a lot of pro details in his game and a very effective 2way game. He has a great compete level and work ethic, showing up for every games. He wins a lot of puck battles especially for his size. His passing game is very good, as Dack mentionned some stretch passes he makes are simply impressive. We also saw it at the CHL/USA game on Lakovic's goal after a nice DZ puck recovery*. His shot is also better than i thought at first, i was thinking average in my first viewings but it's definitely a lot better than that. Size will be a concern for some, but i think he checks every other boxes to be comfortable enough with his projection. Probably a low-end top six or a good middle six with offensive upside, which is great in this year's draft.

Liked him pretty much every time i saw him play this year, seems like he keeps improving everytime i come back to him. He's in my top 15 as of now and i think he deserves way more attention than he's getting

* the play i'm talking about

 

[MS]

It's fascinating how different players generate different amounts of hype and discussion here.

Kindel is a remarkably similar prospect to Berkley Catton last year but has 26 posts in his thread so far vs. 13 pages for Catton at this time a year ago.

 

[macbowes]

It's fascinating how different players generate different amounts of hype and discussion here.

Kindel is a remarkably similar prospect to Berkley Catton last year but has 26 posts in his thread so far vs. 13 pages for Catton at this time a year ago.

Pedigree goes a long way, and Catton was a 1OA pick in the WHL draft. He's also a C, which is a more valuable position than RW. That being said, Kindel is rising up lists right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are drafted within 10-15 spots of each other.

 

[MS]

Pedigree goes a long way, and Catton was a 1OA pick in the WHL draft. He's also a C, which is a more valuable position than RW. That being said, Kindel is rising up lists right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are drafted within 10-15 spots of each other.

Kindel has played a lot of C this year so I wouldn't say he's a set RW or anything.

But yeah, pedigree is a big part.