Kindel, who played 18:53 in a 5-4 loss at the Utah Mammoth on Monday, was placed on injured reserve Thursday. He will have increased testing and could begin training in the next four days if there are no complications, Dubas said.
“I mean, so tough to put a timeframe on it,” Dubas said. “We play tonight. We play Saturday night. … Our hope is to get everything done, tested, back into training here in the next four days or so and see if he can return to practice on Sunday or Monday.
“That’s why I would put an asterisk on that by saying ‘we’ll see how everything goes 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 2025 NHL Draft. He had 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 77 games as a rookie.
Dubas said nothing indicated Kindel would be susceptible to having a vasovagal episode.
“The understanding is that there’s certainly no history of it with Ben,” Dubas said. “Obviously, we’ll work through it to figure (out) what exactly triggered it. I don’t know about it either. But no prior history of it, no.”
Kindel was still processing the episode, Dubas said on Thursday.
“It’s just, probably, 48 hours after. I met with him earlier this morning,” Dubas said. “Very clearly shaken. I think we just have to continue to help him with our resources.
“For me, this is the third or fourth time where it suddenly jumps from hockey to life. … You very quickly realize that we’re all working in a game. We’re very fortunate to do so, working and covering it. You’d much rather talk about the team playing well or playing poorly, diagnose it and why that is. But you get reminded every so often, probably rightfully so, that there’s more at stake than just the wins and losses.”
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 is likely to miss at least those two games before potentially returning against the Mammoth at home Oct. 29.
“The show goes on tonight,” Dubas said. “So, we have to gear up and get ready for that. No. 1, take care of our people. And No. 2, put them in a good place to perform. So, we’ll get back at it.”