Analyzing’s Ben Kindel age-18 success after ninth place finish in Calder voting

Q: What was Ben Kindel's Calder voting position?

Ben Kindel finished ninth in the Calder voting.

Q: How does Ben Kindel's performance compare to other 18-year-old NHL players?

Kindel had the sixth most points among 18-year-old forwards, ranking 12th overall when including all age-18 forwards.

Q: What does Ben Kindel's ninth place finish in the Calder voting signify?

His ninth place finish signifies recognition of his potential and performance as a young player in the NHL.

Q: What are the expectations for Ben Kindel moving forward with the Penguins?

The Penguins expect to integrate Kindel into a scoring line and increase his role on the power play to further develop his offensive game.

PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 27: Ben Kindel #81 of the Pittsburgh Penguins prepares to take the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Five of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images Ben Kindel picked up votes and finished ninth in the Calder voting. The award was announced early and handed to the unanimous winner, Matthew Schaefer live on national television. Considering Kindel in his draft+1 wasn’t even expected to be in the NHL until his training camp performance forced his way into the picture, it’s a nice little recognition to pickup votes. It would have required a lot more points to standout as a top-3 choice in the voting but doesn’t take anything away from the bright future that Kindel has. While Kindel was stacked up against all rookies for this voting, for added nuance it helps to consider what playing as an 18-year old in the NHL might mean for the future. Via Sportsreference.com we looked at 18-year old forwards since 2005-06, taking out the ringers of this category like first overall picks like (102 points), (63), (63) and (61) who belong a notch above the ’common’ type of performers at this incredibly young age. Kindel had the sixth most points of this group, and would rank 12th when including all age-18 forwards. Of this list, only Cole Silinger (picked 12th), (13th), (25th) and (33rd) were lower draft picks in their respective drafts than Kindel was, which speaks to the rarity of a forward outside of the top-10 producing points as an 18-year old. In the last 20 years most of the draft+1 forwards are going to be top-10 picks, only a very select handful are going to be in the sample. This chart can be useful to show areas of growth. There was once a world where Pastranak, a future 60-goal scorer, scored 10 goals in a season (albeit, in 46 games since he spent time in the AHL that season). , Andrei Svechknikov, , , Ryan O’Reilly and weren’t always the point-producing monsters that they turned into during their first season. There still can be a lot of growth and development for a young player that gets to the NHL on an accelerated path. What you see today isn’t the finished product, plenty of players have doubled, tripled or expanded their production to even greater heights. Of course, on the flip side the list shows success is not guaranteed by getting to this point either. Players in this sample like Jesper Kotkaniemi, Cole Silinger and had wonderful rookie seasons that didn’t turn into tremendously impactful careers. Kindel’s age-18 sample doesn’t point him straight to the top, but it’s a good grouping of players to work his way into after being the 11th pick of the draft (that even many observers and experts thought was a reach on draft night, no less). The Penguins have a lot of reason to be excited about Kindel moving forward. One reason he stuck in the NHL, beyond counting stats, was displaying a good work rate and poise away from the puck. He played center all season and was a boost to the team. The next step should come shortly to integrate him into a scoring line and an increased role on the power play so that he can keep developing his offensive game and hopefully get on the path of some of the other 18-year old NHLers who have gone onto become key players on their teams. The results of Calder race show that Kindel still has a ways to go in that department, but it’s also worth emphasizing and remembering the rare and impressive accomplishment of sticking in the NHL and having a solid season at such a young age.

Analyzing’s Ben Kindel age-18 success after ninth place finish in Calder voting

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