When I spoke with Penguins first-round pick on Sunday Ben Kindel about what he wanted to show in Monday's development camp tournament, he said that he hoped to "try and show my skating and show that I can improve in that, and try to show my hockey sense and just play my game."
Kindel, the Penguins' 11th overall pick and highest pick this summer, and the knock on him leading up to his draft was that he's "not fast enough for how small he is," as one NHL scout put it in the Elite Prospects Draft Guide.
Development camp is not an evaluation camp, that can't be stressed enough. A lot of these players have barely been on the ice as of late before they came to camp, Kindel included. His skating was a mixed back in Monday's tournament -- it wasn't some massive, glaring issue like it's been made out to be. There were times his speed put him in positions to better receive a pass, or get a scoring chance. But there were other times where he would lose footraces to opponents. Regardless, for someone who is only 5 foot 10 and 180 pounds, his skating is going to need to be a strength of his when he turns pro -- not just serviceable.
Kindel felt OK about his showing in the camp scrimmage, telling me he "tried to push myself as much as I could around the ice. I think I did well to show some bursts in my skating."
Director of player development Tom Kostopoulos acknowledged afterward that "there's a ton of room for growth and improvement" in Kindel's skating, but also noted that "you see the hockey sense, you see the play making ability" that are Kindel's strengths.
"It's been really good trip for him," Kostopoulos told me. "It's exciting to see that there's room for growth in strength in skating. If you give a smart player more speed and strength, their game is only going to grow. So I think he's a kid that's willing to put in the work, and he knows what he has to do."
THE ASYLUM
Kindel's skating has 'room for growth'
When I spoke with Penguins first-round pick on Sunday Ben Kindel about what he wanted to show in Monday's development camp tournament, he said that he hoped to "try and show my skating and show that I can improve in that, and try to show my hockey sense and just play my game."
Kindel, the Penguins' 11th overall pick and highest pick this summer, and the knock on him leading up to his draft was that he's "not fast enough for how small he is," as one NHL scout put it in the Elite Prospects Draft Guide.
Development camp is not an evaluation camp, that can't be stressed enough. A lot of these players have barely been on the ice as of late before they came to camp, Kindel included. His skating was a mixed back in Monday's tournament -- it wasn't some massive, glaring issue like it's been made out to be. There were times his speed put him in positions to better receive a pass, or get a scoring chance. But there were other times where he would lose footraces to opponents. Regardless, for someone who is only 5 foot 10 and 180 pounds, his skating is going to need to be a strength of his when he turns pro -- not just serviceable.
Kindel felt OK about his showing in the camp scrimmage, telling me he "tried to push myself as much as I could around the ice. I think I did well to show some bursts in my skating."
Director of player development Tom Kostopoulos acknowledged afterward that "there's a ton of room for growth and improvement" in Kindel's skating, but also noted that "you see the hockey sense, you see the play making ability" that are Kindel's strengths.
"It's been really good trip for him," Kostopoulos told me. "It's exciting to see that there's room for growth in strength in skating. If you give a smart player more speed and strength, their game is only going to grow. So I think he's a kid that's willing to put in the work, and he knows what he has to do."
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