The 19-year-old forward was cleared to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday after suffering vasovagal syncope, a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure that reduces blood flow to the brain, about 10 minutes after the plane took off from Salt Lake City International Airport. Kindel received oxygen prior to an emergency medical landing and was transported to the University of Utah Medical Center. Kindel, who played 18:53 in a 5-4 loss to Utah Mammoth on Monday, was placed on injured reserve on Thursday. He will undergo further tests and could begin training in the next four days if there are no complications, Dubas said. “I mean, it’s very difficult to put a deadline on it,” Dubas said. “We play tonight. We play Saturday night… Our hope is to get everything ready, tested, get back to training here in the next four days or so and see if he can get back to practicing Sunday or Monday. “That’s why I would put an asterisk on that saying ‘we’ll see how things go before then.'” Kindel has four points (two goals, two assists) in nine games this season, his second since being selected by Pittsburgh in the first round (No. 11) of the league’s draft. of 2025. He had 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 77 games as a rookie. “Happy, everything is fine,” said defenseman Erik Karlsson. “I’m glad to see ‘Kindy’ is here today and in good spirits.” Dubas said there was nothing to indicate Kindel would be susceptible to having a vasovagal episode. “It is understood that there is certainly no history of that with Ben,” Dubas said. “Obviously, we will work on it to find out (discover) what exactly triggered it. I don’t know either. But there is no prior history, no.” Kindel was still processing the episode, Dubas said Thursday. “It’s probably been 48 hours. I met with him this morning,” Dubas said. “Very clearly shaken. I think we have to continue to help him with our resources. “For me, this is the third or fourth time he has suddenly jumped from hockey to life… You quickly realize that we are all working on a game. We are very lucky to do it, working and covering it. You would rather talk about the team playing well or poorly, diagnose it and why. But every once in a while they remind you, probably rightly so, that there’s more at stake than just wins and losses.” The Penguins (3-6-1) canceled Wednesday’s practice after having an extended travel day Tuesday. They are 1-6-1 in their last eight games and were outscored 21-11 while losing each game in regulation on a four-game road trip. Kindel’s situation diverted attention from the team’s recent struggles, the captain said. Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby “For something like that to happen, I think it puts things into perspective pretty quickly,” Crosby said. “But I think knowing that here we have the opportunity to recover at home and put that trip behind us, we have to look at it as an opportunity to get back to normal. Everyone tries to do the best they can to support each other and be there. It’s one of those things where you try to make the best of difficult situations. We are a family here. I think when guys come here, regardless of how long they’ve been here, I think that’s something we want them to feel right away.” The Penguins face the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, SCRIPPS, SNP, SNE, TVAS) before hosting the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Kindel will likely miss at least those two games before potentially returning against Mammoth at home on Oct. 29. “The show goes on tonight,” Dubas said. “So we have to prepare and prepare for that. No. 1, take care of our people. And number 2, put them in a good place to perform. So we’ll do it again.”
