Pittsburgh Penguins hit with major injury setback ahead of their next preseason game

The Pittsburgh Penguins got some tough news Monday night after center Ben Kindel went down with a lower-body injury during their game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Kindel exited after the first period, and it wasn't immediately clear what triggered it.

He did crash awkwardly into the net earlier in the frame and looked slow getting back to his feet, so that's the moment most people are pointing to as the likely cause.

He gutted out the rest of the period before the Penguins made the call to shut him down for the night.

Kindel is not expected to play Tuesday when the Penguins host the Detroit Red Wings, and the expectation right now is that he takes a few days away from the ice to let things settle.

That's a real loss in the short term, since he's been skating on what many consider the true second line alongside Bryan Rust and Andrei Kuzmenko.

Kindel is coming off an outstanding first year in the league, putting up 17 goals and 18 assists across 77 games.

He was taken 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft and has looked every bit the part since arriving.

With Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson all getting up there in age, Kindel is quickly becoming a name Pittsburgh fans are building the next era around, and he's reportedly been glued to Crosby at practice trying to soak up everything he can.

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