Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Do Penguins prospects Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel deserve 9-game tryouts?

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

The Penguins' front office has a big decision looming: should they hold onto two young prospects who still have junior eligibility or send them back? Hunter and Patrick begin the show talking about the rise of Benjamin Kindel, who was outstanding in Detroit on Monday. The question now is, what to do with him? While he may not be ready for full-time NHL action, does he deserve a nine-game tryout? (3:20). They discuss the pros and cons of each option before examining Filip Hallander (14:36) and determining whether he should be a lock for the roster. Finally, they discuss the Harrison Brunicke situation and whether he has shown enough to be in the NHL. (20:42).Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Does Prospect Benjamin Kendall deserve a nine-game tryout for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year? Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host. Patrick David can follow him on a podcast.

all social media platforms at Sender River Wet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch the day. We are free and available on all platforms

and have the Penguins get their third straight preseason victory on Monday night, a two to one win over the Detroit Red Wings. That's now five preseason games in the bag. two more, thankfully, before the regular season starts. At this point, man, I'm just ready for the regular season to start. Seven preseason games is just too many. You have one more against Buffalo on Wednesday.

Then you play the Sabres again on Friday in the quote-unquote dress rehearsal game. At least that's what I think is going to happen. But I am just counting down the days until we only get four preseason games because now that we've played five, I'm just ready for the regular season to start, my friend. Yeah. And I didn't expect to talk about this to open the show because in principle, I totally agree with you. When the new CBA kicks in and we have a shortened preseason, it's only going to be so much better. But I will say, if there has been kind of a funny through line for where the penguins are right now,

it's that they have been kind of really lucky with everything that's happened so far with the rising salary cap, with where they want to go in this rebuild and now the extended preseason because you break it all down with where the penguins are right now. And we'll get to this preseason game. This is just, again, a take I didn't expect to have to start the show. But you look at where their rebuild goes. All of a sudden, right, as they're about to start it, they get a rise in the salary cap. Not only does there a rise in the salary cap, all the players they want to keep locked up are locked up with a rising salary cap.

not to mention pretty much, let's say, 29, 28 teams are all trying to get better. And here's the penguins basically like, we're open for business if you want to give us picks and prospects. And then they get a new coaching staff in place. They have a bunch of prospects they're interested in. And instead of only having four or five preseason games to give them a look, they've got seven and they've got an extended training camp to do it. So realistically, like, in principle as a hockey fan, preseason, way too long, goes on too long. So does training camp. Let's get to the real thing.

But analyzing the penguins, they're kind of getting lucky at every juncture. So can't really be mad at that. Hey, that's fair. And if there is a silver lining of this preseason, Pat, it's getting more of Ben Kendall. And he played by far his best preseason game on Monday, which is a pretty big statement after how great he was on Saturday against Columbus in almost a mini version of the dress rehearsal game, especially with Mark Andre Fleury playing for a period. But that first goal that he scored, the quid essential Ben Kendall goal.

He's helping out defensively in his own zone, showing off that really strong two-way play, gets the puck, starts the breakout, cuts to the middle, puck finds him, boom, it's in the back of the net. He showcases his shot. Just a beautiful goal. Later on in the game, Pat, he's showcasing his skating, showcasing his hockey, cue. He's setting up other chances. He's getting chances for himself. He was all over the ice. And by the way, he almost broke the chart for hockey stat cards on social media with it.

They always post those after games. He literally almost broke the chart. That is how good he was. And this does pave the way for the discussion. Does he deserve a nine game trial to open the year? People may disagree with me. And that's totally fine. I think both sides have great points. Pat, I'm on the side of, no, I don't think he is ready for this just yet. I'm going to get to you in just a second because you and I were talking about this yesterday. For me, I don't think he is one of the Penguins' top six best forwards right now. So you would probably be playing him in a third line role, which means he's not getting as many minutes. He's not getting a chance to play with the best players.

I don't want him doing that and having it stunned his development. Now, if you want to argue that he could get a game or two as a reward, I will see that. I understand it. I get it. I just disagree. I want him to get another full season of junior, 100 plus points, light it up in the WHL,

and then I think we can revisit this next year. But also at the same time, the fact that we are even having this conversation about him, this late in preseason, this late in training camp, is such a huge plus for him. I don't think anyone saw this coming where we would be discussing him potentially getting a look in the HL this year.

That is just how good of a camp he has had. But to me, I think this is the Harrison Brunick situation from last year, Pat, where he got all the way to the end of camp, he almost got the nine game trial. And the organization was like, hey, you had a five star plus camp. We like where you're at. We want to send you back to junior where you can dominate. He did that when he was healthy. He was banged up a bit last year.

And look where he is now. He is potentially closing in on getting a trial. And if I had to pick right now, I think Harrison Brunick has a better shot at getting a nine-game trial than Ben Kendall. We'll get into more Brunick later on in the show. But that's what I think the Penguins should do. I just don't want him rushed because I think he is going to be a damn good player once he's, you know, around 20 to 21 to 22. That is my take on it. People can disagree.

That's fine. Pat, I hand it to you. Do you think he deserves a nine-game trial? Yes, but with an asterisk, okay? So follow me on this one. I don't think he deserves a nine-game tryout. I don't think you need to keep him for nine games. I think if he continues this strong play through the next two games,

if he suits up in both, which it kind of feels like he's going to, if he continues the strong play and continues to look good in practices, I think you can keep him up for two, three games max. And it's not going to hamper his development, because here's what you do. You kind of let him know the plan ahead of schedule. You let him know, listen, you're going back. You're not staying in the NHL this year.

But we're going to let you play two, maybe three regular season games. So you really get a taste of this. You really understand what the NHL is like. And maybe he plays really well in those two to three games. But I think we all understand. He's not going to make it through an 82 game grind. He's not going to be the same Ben Kindle we're seeing right now in February. But when he's this ahead of schedule, you want to give him that taste.

You want to give him that look and you want to have them understand, okay, this is what it takes. This is what it really is. And then you send him back to junior. You also have the prospect of two other things I think that work in his favor for getting mini tryout. Kevin Hayes is hurt. Rucker McGrory is hurt. Noelle Acheri is hurt. Tristan Bros. Avery Hayes and a couple of the other guys we really like. They have the ability to go down to the HL and not have to clear waivers. They won't get claimed. You don't have to worry about that. And you can bring them up without any second thought. So essentially, you have a couple spots

open due to injury and a couple of guys that you can look at them and go, hey, listen, we're not sending you down for the long term. We're not burying you in the HL. We're going to give you a call in a couple weeks. So go down there, work hard, play well, you're coming right back. But we want to check a couple other things out to start the season. So I don't think you need to keep Ben Kindle around for nine games, but if he continues this strong play for the rest of the week going into next week, you give him a sweater for two to three games, let him see what it's like, I don't think that hamper's his development.

I think it furthers it because at the end of the day, this is not NHL hockey right now. This is, these are scrimmages. These are games where nobody cares about the outcome. They're only worried about the process. They're only worried about evaluations. And next week, we're doing this for real. Next week, it counts.

Next week, it's in the standings. Next team, next week teams are playing to, win. So you give them that taste and you tell them, okay, you saw what it was like. Your next, your next assignment is to go dominate in Calgary and we will talk to you next year. And if your season in Calgary ends early, you're going to Wilkes Bear and you've got to win a Calder Cup. Again, I at least understand that take. I think it is totally valid. I know we're going to have people in our comments saying that exact take. And hey, I get it. He has exceeded expectations during this camp and preseason.

My only worry, though, is again, Pat, even if you give him a couple of games, like they did with McGority last year, and it was obvious that he wasn't in chill ready. They sent him back to Wilkesbury, and he was able to develop more, and then he came back later in the season, and boom, he was ready.

And I think if they were to give him a couple games, you'd send him back to Calgary, and, you know, he played top line minutes there. I wanted to get 100 plus points. But still, my worry with, you know, two, three games, where are you going to slot him in? Even with the injuries right now, to McGrory to Kevin Hayes.

And I think, you know, Chari will probably be ready for next week. It looks like he's been cleared for contact and practices and stuff. But still, TBD on whether he makes a team, they might utilize waivers for some of these veterans. But my worry for these games, where do you slot him in? Because, again, you look at the top six right now. Vili Coivinen deserves a spot up there.

Cindy Crosby, of course, Brian Ross, Ricardo, O'Garkeld of Genni Malkin. I don't think they're taking away Anthony Manta up there. Those two Malkin and Manta have been quite the duo at camp. So you're not going to take that away. you're probably playing in third line minutes with Tommy Novak, Philip Hollander, and we'll get to Hollander a bit later in the show, by the way.

And I'm just not sure how much he's learning in that circumstance. Again, that's just me. But here's the thing, though, Hunter, in this preseason, he's played each role. He's been in the top six. He's been in the bottom six. And I, again, we're not talking about, I think, and I hear you.

I know what you're saying. Yeah. But. But here's the, here are the two things I keep coming back to. One, we know this team isn't trying to win. We know this team isn't focused on getting to the playoffs or winning a Stanley Cup. So if you put Ben Kindle on the team for two, three games, who gives a damn? On the other end, we're not worried about his usage, his deployment, the way he plays. In my view of this, you just want him to experience it. You want him to see. You want him to see. what the real NHL is like. Now, if it was Covenin or Magrorty, who last year we had designs on them being NHL players last year, yeah, you don't want them withering away on the fourth line and getting 10 max minutes a night. With Kindle, you want him to see two to three games, to see the actual speed, to see the actual intensity, and then you go, all right, you got a taste,

now go dominate. It's a great problem to have. And it's also a great discussion too. Both sides, even your side of it, is very valid. So they have a very tough call on their hands here. I think he's going to play on Wednesday. I'd be stunned if he didn't. And if you play as well then,

I think you kind of have to play him on Friday in the dress rehearsal to be like, hey, you're going to go out there with the full 18 now. Let's see what you can do before we make our final cuts. But at the very least, Pat, I know we can agree on this. He has exceeded expectations. And I don't think you and I want them burning his ELC this year for no reason. So we can both agree on that, agree to disagree on a little part of that. But hey, let us know what you think about this down in the comments.

You can DM us as well. Do you think Ben Kindle should get a taste of NHL action this year? Or do you think he should go to junior right away? Let us know what you think. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss a couple more players who really stood out on Monday night. that's coming up right after this.

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and get started. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damp, and Pat. You know, I've been saying for a while that I think the Lai Coivan is a lock, to make this roster. He was once again great.

Last night, I'd be forward if he didn't make it. And I think I have arrived now with Philip Hollander. I think he should be a lock for this roster. He was once again very good. It was funny. Tommy Novak, low-key took a goal away from Philip Hollander. It was a nice little tap and goal for Novak, and I thought he played well last night, too. But I loved that three-on-two sequence. Really nice pass from Tomasino gets it over to Hollander, who basically, it looks like he's

about to score than Tommy Nobeck's, okay, I'm going to take that from. me, I'll have a nice little tap in here for a goal. But I thought Hollander was also all over the ice. And for people wondering how I was able to watch some of this, my dad was able to hook me up with a nice little VPN with ESPN plus because he's more technology savvy than me to say the least. So, kudos to my dad for that one. Shout out to Mr. Hodes for that.

But I thought Hollander was great, man. And again, Pat, I think he is one of your best 12 to 14 forwards at this point. He needs to make this scene right now. As for Coivenin, I look at that as we, you know, the first segment we're talking about, you got to put Kindle back in on Friday and the rest of the way, Wednesday and Friday. With Covenin, sit him until Friday. He's, I think we've seen enough. You don't need to risk a fluky injury.

You don't need to risk tiring him out. He has been really good as expected all summer. And it looks like he's very much a lock to make the N. NHL club. Hollander, I do want to see at least one more game, but I agree overall. It looks like he is solidifying himself a spot on the NHL roster. And this all comes back to what we have been hearing and what we have been reading this, this camp. It doesn't look like they're going to put roadblocks in for these younger players. And you also have to address the fact that, in a very positive way,

these young players are picking up the ball and running with it. Because in years past, I have talked frequently about the Penguins having a lot of quad A prospects, guys who are probably too good for the AHL, not good enough to be NHL regulars. This camp has been the opposite of that. A lot of these young guys have shown that they are, if not immediately ready,

they are knocking on the door and be about, to be ready. So you have to give the props to some of these young players who are presented with the opportunity and have taken it and ran with it. 100%. And I think someone that can also fall into that category is Avery Hayes. If I had to make a decision right now, and I know we have two more preseason games left, I think Avery Hayes should be on this team. I think he has shown enough throughout camp and throughout preseason to be on this roster again, you know, that nifty little behind the back, no look pastor Crosby during that game on Saturday was the best play. He's made during the preseason.

But again, he's always in the right position. He also has some good hockey IQ as well. So I really like the way he's developing, especially over the last year plus. I kind of have, I get some Brian Russ vibes when I watch him a little bit. I don't think he's not going to, I don't think he's going to be Brian Russ, obviously in the NHL considering how great Rust is. But that's like the vibe I get when I watch him. So it honestly kind of comes down to Hayes or Bros.

I would lean towards Avery Hayes, but whichever one of them doesn't make the NHL roster, I think will be up on the NHL team pretty quickly to start the season once more injuries hit. But if I had to say right now, Pat, with two preseason games left, I'd go Avery Hayes. I think he has shown enough to be on this roster. Tristan Bros. It's really close.

I have him not making it right now. That can change. I'd go Avery Hayes by a smith. I would too. And I also look at it as it depends upon a lot of what Kyle Dubus does this season on the trade market. Because both of both Hayes and bros have put together very strong cases to be NHL players. Maybe not right away. Maybe not for all 82 games or maybe I shouldn't say all 82. But NHL regulars, I should say, guys who maybe don't play the full 82, but play the majority. at the end of the day, though, there are still veterans on this roster that you really should play.

I know that we have been talking about it. We have heard about it that they're not going to block the young guys, but there still are a lot of good veterans on this team who need to play. You know the obvious ones, your Crosby, Malkin, Rust, Raquel, but I also look at guys like Mantha and Novak and Tomasino, who you're not going to, you're not going to, push them to the side for these prospects because some of those guys are still technically prospects, even though they've been in the league for a while.

You still want to see them develop into better players. And part of that is making sure they have the opportunity. So at the end of the day, in the quote unquote race between Bros and Hayes, Hayes has the slightest of edge. but at the end of the day, I think when we get into January, February, in post deadline, remember their names

because they're probably going to be on the roster. I think you could see one of them on the roster or both by mid-November, early December, something like that. Again, especially if injuries pile up. Like, this is the Penguins after all. The Penguins injury curse knows what counts. So you never know with that.

But I think we're going to table that discussion and end the second segment on that. Coming up in the third segment, does Harrison Brunich also deserve a nine-game trial? We're going to discuss that right after this. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Dammit. Pat, we already discussed Ben Kindle, potentially getting a nine-game trial.

Let's throw it over to Harrison Brunich, who has once again had a great training camp, a great free season. He's gotten a lot of reps with the NHL guys. He's been on a pairing with Owen Pickering, but does he deserve a nine-game? game look. And I will say this. I am much more comfortable giving him a nine game look than I am Ben Kendall. Now, is he ready for a full season in the NHL? I would kind of vote still no at this juncture. That might be a hot take to some. I still think he has a little bit more work to do. I think he can be a full-time NHL or though by next season. I think that's where I am with this.

What really stinks is that the NHL-CHL-CHL rule is just still where it is. He will be. be a perfect candidate to go to Wilkesbury this year, man. I think that is where he really needs to be to open the season, where he can develop a little bit more, get adjusted to the pro game, and then once he does get adjusted, he gets some reps under his belt, maybe get some top Perry Minutes in Wilkesbury, he would come up. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's going to have that option. It's getting me back to Cam Loops, which is not going to be a good team or here in the

NHL. And with Cam Loops, I don't want him learning bad habits, but also at the NHL level, don't want him getting fully exposed. So two sides, I think, have the pros and the cons. Again, I think if you want to give him nine games, that's totally fine. But beyond that, you better be sure that he can play at an NHL level all season because you'd be burning a year of his ELC. I don't want to just burn someone's first year of his ELC for reasons. I've always had that take, no matter which prospect it is. But you have that. You couple that with a defensive log gym where I know they want to try to get some value out of Connor Clifton to move him.

him. The same can be said for Matt Dumba. I don't think they're going to waive Ryan Graves before training camp. I think if they waive him, it's going to be during the season, at least to me. You have Ryan Shea on that side. You have Owen Pickering, Parker, Weatherstone, Eric Carlson, Crystal Tang. I just think as of right now for a full season, I think there's a little bit too much of a logjam. But if you want to give him a taste, he is closer to me than Kendall, and I will understand it. That's where I see it. Pat, Pat, what about you? This one to me is a lot less clear than Kindle. I think with Kindle, you know that he is not going to be in the NHL this year,

at least not past a couple of games. I think with Kindle, you can see the process already of let him get, like I said in the first segment, let him get the experience, let him get the taste of the NHL and then send him back. That way he, you want to entice him, right? You want him to understand what,

it's going to take to make the NHL and that helps his development with Brunick there are two questions in my mind that I'm going to say right now and then I'm going to expand on him then I want your thoughts on it Hunter so the two questions I keep thinking of are this one is he right now at this juncture in camp one of the six best defensemen on the penguin's roster I kind of lean toward yes do I do I think it's I would have with you yes so you look at that and you go okay if he's one of the six best defense men on the roster kind of should keep them because yeah they're not trying to win but that is in direct conflict with what we have been talking about they want to give the young players a chance and they're not going to throw up roadblocks and if they're not going to throw up

roadblocks and he's one of the best six, there you go. The other question that I wonder about is, is it better for his development to stay in the NHL, maybe not be an every single night defenseman, but train with the NHL team. Get the value of being in an NHL program, having NHL facilities, NHL resources, rather than going back to a bad Camloops team, like you said, picking up some bad habits because he's going to be the best player on the team. He's going to be tasked with doing everything for them. So I look at Brumick and I think, yeah, it's going to suck that you might have to burn a year

of his ELC to keep him in the NHL. But I also look at it this way. Do you really see him turning into a super? star in the next three years. I can totally see a world where he becomes a genuine top pairing defenseman, but it's going to take a little while. And if you get to year two or even year three, you're not going to have to pay him a ton of money.

You can put him on a two to three year bridge deal that's affordable. He grows into it. And by the time he becomes who you think he's going to be, you're going to have cap space. you're going to be able to resign them to a big deal. But I come back to my second question. It's probably best for his development if you just leave him in the NHL. Maybe he plays 45, 50, 55 games, but he trains at an NHL level.

He's with an NHL club. He's got all those resources. And I think at the end of the day, I'll leave it here and let you go. I think it's best for his development to just stay. You're pretty convincing. I'll say that this is such a fun time a year. I love that we're having these discussions because we just haven't really been able to have these for so long because the Pegas Prospect Pool hasn't been very good.

So again, there's pros and cons to both, I think, for Brunick, for Cam Loops where, yeah, he can go down there potentially, Pat, dominate, but he's doing it against lesser competition versus here in the NHL where he's closer than Kindle is. You can play him 45, 50 games. But still, I just, I look at that defensive logjam. And even though there's some veterans there, there's Owen Pickering there too, I just don't know if I see that full-time spot available to him right now.

Even though I do think he is one of the best six defensemen, it's just, I think, more of a numbers game. than anything. I also think this too. You can kill two birds with one stone in this regard. You have a couple guys, as you said on the blue line, like Clifton,

like Dumbah, that you want to get some value out of in a trade. If you have Brunick around and you're not expecting to play him more than sit, let's set the bar at 55. Just pluck in a random number. I don't know if this is what's going to happen. But let's say you're playing him 55.

games. You're still going to have people in and out. You're still going to have injuries. You're still going to have guys get hurt. You're going to have guys get scratched. You're going to have guys get waved. But you're still going to have time to play Clifton, to play Dumba, to give them looks and show that they have value. And not only that, you can kind of shelter them a little bit. And granted, you're not going to pull any fast ones on NHLGMs, they, especially with guys who have been in the league for a while. There's plenty of tape and plenty of history on them, but you can put them in a advantageous situation, and I'm going to bring up a player that you love to give me crap for. The Penguins used Cody Cici pretty correctly, and he went on to use the correct usage to get a

bunch of big contracts out of a bunch of teams who went, yeah, we can totally put them on our top pair, and the Penguins went, no, you can't, no, you can't. But I think, I think. think you can kill two birds at one stone. Like I said, you're going to help his development by having him at a pro level while not playing him all 82 games. And yeah, it's going to suck to burn the ELC. But you'll also have some limited time for your Dumbas, your Clifton's, a couple other guys. It can kind of raise their value and help develop Brunick. And if you can move one of those two, I could see that as well where you free up some of that logjam, especially on the right. side. I wouldn't want to be the front office right now.

No. These conversations are so great on our show because, again, there's pros and cons to both. I see both sides of it. Like, I see your side of it. I know you see mine. I know the people listening see both sides too. So I am really fascinated to see what happens over this next week, man. This is going to be a race to the finish.

Curious to see how many of these really younger prospects make the team get a little bit of a taste of an initial action. By the way, what I said about Brunic, you know, playing against lesser competition, the WHL, that does hold true for Kindle, but again, I don't think Kendall is ready for full-time initial action, so I also want him to dominate the WHL

and put up a 100-plus point season. So just wanted to clarify on that. But Pat, I think that'll do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Really fun discussion on both Kindle and Brunick in that entire preseason game. Let us know what you guys think. Do you think Kendall should get a few games

NHL action. Do you think he's ready for the league? Do you think Harrison Brunick is ready to play full-time NHL minutes? Let us know in the comments, DM us, all that stuff. This was some great conversation today. So for Patchdamp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you guys so much for listening. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday.