Ben Kindel has experienced a handful of firsts as an 18-year-old rookie in the NHL.
First game, first goal, first road trip, etc.
But getting to skate on a line with someone who eventually will have a plaque on a wall in the Hockey Hall of Fame? The Pittsburgh Penguins forward might get to double-dip on that accomplishment.
During practice Wednesday in Cranberry, Kindel centered the Penguins’ apparent second line with Evgeni Malkin, typically the team’s No. 2 center, at left wing and Egor Chinakhov on the right wing.
Earlier in the season, Kindel skated for a handful of games on the right wing of the top line with Sidney Crosby at center.
“Obviously, he’s a very special player,” Kindel said of playing with Malkin. “I’d be lucky to play with him if it happens (in Thursday’s home game against the New Jersey Devils).
“We’ll just see what happens. It’s just practice.”
Coach Dan Muse echoed that sentiment and largely suggested the combination of Malkin, Kindel and Chinakhov was experimental.
But intriguing.
“It was something we wanted to see,” Muse said. “You try new line combinations. There’s a hope there’s going to be some chemistry and guys that can complement each other, that can play off each other. Thought it looked good in practice but still some conversations to have on all those fronts.”
Malkin has played wing sporadically in his career. He occasionally skated there with Crosby in the late 2000s. And last season, he opened six games as a left winger on Crosby’s line.
Malkin professed willingness to move to the wing but expressed certain comfort at center.
“I can move to defense if coach wants it,” Malkin quipped Tuesday. “I don’t care. I just want to play. It’s not easy. I love to play center. It’s my position. I feel a couple of times, coaches try using me (as a) wing, but I always move to center. You play all your life, you play the same position.
“If coach wants it and I play a couple games (as a winger), I’m all right.”
As for Chinakhov, the 24-year-old is more than all right with the possibility of skating with a 39-year-old icon he grew up admiring in Russia.
“It’s a privilege to play with him,” said Chinakhov, who the Penguins acquired in a Dec. 29 trade9. “He’s so good on the ice. He’s a good skater, good control with pucks. He does everything good.”
Currently designated to injured reserve because of an unspecified shoulder injury that has sidelined him for the past 15 games, Malkin largely operated as center of the second line with Justin Brazeau (left wing) and Anthony Mantha (right wing) in the first 29 games of the season.
On Wednesday, Brazeau and Mantha were deployed as a third line with Tommy Novak at center.
The team’s lines and pairings on Wednesday were:
67 Rickard Rakell – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust
71 Evgeni Malkin – 81 Ben Kindel – 59 Egor Chinakhov
39 Anthony Mantha – 18 Tommy Novak – 16 Justin Brazeau
19 Connor Dewar – 46 Blake Lizotte – 55 Noel Acciari
28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson
77 Brett Kulak – 58 Kris Letang
5 Ryan Shea – 3 Jack St. Ivany
Forwards Kevin Hayes and Ville Koivunen, as well as defenseman Connor Clifton, operated as reserves.
• The first power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Malkin, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play unit involved Brazeau, Chinakhov, Kindel, Letang and Mantha, with Novak mixing in.
Notes: Rookie forward Rutger McGroarty was placed on injured reserve because of a concussion. He was injured during practice Tuesday when he collided with a teammate. … Rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke was assigned to his junior team, the Kamloops Blazers, of the Western Hockey League. The 19-year-old can not rejoin the NHL roster or be assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League until Kamloops’ season has ended. … Defenseman Caleb Jones continued to work out on the ice before practice. Currently designated to injured reserve because of a suspected left foot injury, Jones has not played since Oct 23.