Kyle Dubas and the Penguins buck convention in Round 1, picking Benjamin Kindel, then trading down
PITTSBURGH — Kyle Dubas went against the grain with the Penguins’ back-to-back picks Friday.
The Penguins entered the first round of the 2025 NHL draft with the 11th and 12th selections. At No. 11, they made one of the most surprising picks of the night when they drafted forward Benjamin Kindel. Moments later, they traded the No. 12 pick to the rival Philadelphia Flyers for the 22nd and 31st selections later in Round 1.
With the 22nd pick Pittsburgh selected Canadian winger Bill Zonnon.
The moves by Dubas, the Penguins’ third-year president of hockey operations, will surely draw scrutiny. But it may take years to tell whether he made the right calls.
Most mock drafts projected Kindel, a 5-foot-11 center from Calgary of the Western Hockey League, to go somewhere in the 20s. But the Penguins liked him enough to take him 11th after a few potential targets went off the board before their pick.
Dubas and the Penguins were open to the possibility of moving up into the top 10, but a trade never materialized. Instead, they watched Philadelphia take big winger Porter Martone at No. 6. Boston halted James Hagens’ draft slide with the next pick. Jake O’Brien, Radim Mrtka and Roger McQueen rounded out the top 10 selections.
Pittsburgh then took Kindel over Viktor Eklund, Kashawn Aitcheson and others.
He was the Penguins’ highest selection since 2012, when they drafted defenseman Derrick Pouliot at No. 8 overall after acquiring that pick in the Jordan Staal trade.
Kindel, listed at 180 pounds, tallied 35 goals and 99 points in 65 games this past season. He added 15 points in 11 games during the Calgary Hitmen’s playoff run.
Dubas and the Penguins then traded down, adding two more first-rounders. The last time they had three picks in Round 1 was 1984, when they landed a franchise changer in Mario Lemieux then Doug Bodger and Roger Belanger later in the round.
Pittsburgh traded again and selected Will Horcoff with the 24th pick.
