In light of how much satisfaction I have derived from watching the WHL this season, particularly in approximately the last month, I have decided to launch yet another “series within the series” for Prospects to Know. While many of my favorite players from the Dub who are eligible for the coming few drafts have already gotten their spotlight on here, there is still more work to do. The other prong to creation of this mini-series is that the WHL has done a great job contributing to the 2025 NHL Entry Draft class. It is time to provide the players that make up that phenomenon their space to be analyzed and commended. We will start by addressing the most remarkable scorer of the three who may be bubbling under somewhat.

Benjamin Kindel was born in Coquitlam, BC on April 19th, 2007. Early stories in his career include your typical hallmarks of a future blue chip, as he participated in both the Brick Invitational and Quebec Pee-Wee Tournaments with the BC Junior Canucks and Burnaby Winter Club Bruins, respectively (registering 2 goals and 3 assists in 6 games at the former and 4 assists in three games at the latter). It was within Burnaby Winter Club’s system that his hockey journey truly began. With BWC, he went the CSSHL route like many other WHL prospects covered in this series and got his elite hockey career off to a strong start. He appeared in 6 games and registered 3 goals and 8 assists with their U15 Varsity team in the 2020–21 season. The following season, he recorded 12 goals and 35 assists in 22 games with their U15 Prep team. He would begin two new chapters in 2022, as he would become a WHL prospect via being taken in round two of the WHL Prospects Draft at 43rd overall by the Calgary Hitmen, and make the move to Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford. With the YHA Lions U18 Prep squad, he would rack up 46 points in 29 games played in the regular season, followed by 11 points in 4 games in the championships. He would additionally make one affiliate appearance with the Hitmen. This would be his final season below the major junior level, as he would play for Calgary full-time the next season.

In his rookie WHL season, Kindel was quite strong for a Calgary team that ultimately missed the postseason. He registered 15 goals and 45 assists while playing in all 68 regular season games, demonstrating his reliability. This season, he has taken the proper dev jump, with his reliability now also manifesting by way of consistent productivity. Kindel started off somewhat slow with just 3 points in his first six appearances (though this stretch also accounted for him having a PPG in his first three), then went on a 7 game point streak in which he racked up 8 goals and 8 assists. He then went quiet for two games before launching his now incumbent streak, which has seen him register at least one point in 23 consecutive games, with 15 goals and 28 assists to his name in that span. He currently sits at 64 points in 38 games, on pace for 113 in 67.

Kindel had two noteworthy showcase looks this year and was somewhat quiet from a point accumulation standpoint (with just 1g-1a in the Hlinka-Gretzky, though a potential second goal was waved off due to goaltender interference, and an assist on Lynden Lakovic’s goal to open the CHL–USA Prospects Challenge, but it is worth noting that Mitch Brown’s model had him with one of the best xG buildups across that entire first game and Canada nevertheless stood tall in both endeavors). However, he is proving himself to be worth a lot across a large body of work, which, in my opinion, counts for more than performing well at tournaments. What I think stands out to me about Kindel beyond just his prolific and consistent output is that we can see the evolution of the breadth of his offensive weaponry in real time. He came into this season known primarily as an intelligent playmaker and skillful puck magician. However, I think we are also seeing his shot mechanics, finishing and overall goal scoring ability in its next phase, which only serves to make him more dangerous. It is this combination of assets that has him fifth in the WHL in points at present.

That said, his standing in what appears to currently be the CHL’s best of its three constituent leagues has not significantly assisted where he stands in evaluation of the class overall. As you will see from the rankings included on his EP, he is not a consensus first round pick. I find this to be foolish and most likely a manifestation of the height obsession phenomenon, with Kindel standing at 5’10”. His talent is very much that of a top ten player in the class and should, at minimum, have him going in the first half of round one. Nevertheless, however, whatever team drafts him will be fortunate. Akin to a rival of sorts in Victoria’s Cole Reschny, I anticipate that Kindel will be taken late and be an excellent value pick for whoever is smart enough to just take the productivity, results, and overall game at face value and pull the trigger.