Ben Kindel Is No Longer a Penguins Surprise Act

Ben Kindel has gone from under-the-radar name to a player the Penguins can no longer treat like a nice little bonus. When a prospect stops sneaking up on people, the internal conversations usually get a lot more serious, and that is where this one appears to be heading. Pittsburgh has seen enough to know this is not just a flash in the pan, and that changes how the next steps get handled.