As new GM Ken Holland and the LA Kings find themselves in the midst of an important off-season, chatter around the team seems to indicate that Ken Holland is in on everything. Make a trade? Check. Spend to the cap for an impactful free agent? You got it! Develop internally via the draft? You better believe it!
So with the draft just over a month away, it might be time to take a look at who might be available for LA with the 24th pick on June 27th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. First up: 18 year-old dynamic center/right wing Benjamin Kindel of the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.
Full disclosure: Kindel may not fall all the way down to 24th because quite a few other teams seem to be kicking the tires on this kid. And why not? He’s coming off a 99-point season with the Hitmen (35 G, 64 A) this past season and was Calgary’s leading scorer in the playoffs with 15 points (8 G, 7 A) over 11 games played.
BEN KINDEL BACK TO BACK OT WINNERS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/F9FV5jCpdy
— Calgary Hitmen (@WHLHitmen) April 19, 2025
The scouting consensus on Kindel seems to be that he has an elite hockey IQ and sees the game extremely well. Kindel has been turning heads for a while in the WHL with his excellent passing and play-making skills. And judging by the many clips of Kindel that can be found on social media, he appears to have an above average finishing touch around the net and can back teams off with his speed.
Therefore, you may be asking, if Kindel has this level of promise, why is he projected to go in the late-teens or early twenties in this year’s draft? As it often does in the NHL, it probably has much to do about Kindel’s size. At 5’10, 176 pounds, Kindel’s frame may give NHL GMs pause about selecting him in the first round. As it pertains specifically to the Kings, the mindset has always seemed to be about size. Cracking the lineup as an undersized player in LA is a considerable challenge. Look no further than Jordan Spence’s travails in consistently getting ice-time despite metrics showing him to be a legitimate NHL defenseman. In fact, you have to wonder sometimes if a 5’8 Marcel Dionne would get a shot with the 2025 LA Kings.
In any case, with scouts comparing Kindel’s game to that of Nick Suzuki and Mathew Barzal, the Kings should probably take a hard look at him should he still be on the board at number 24.
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