The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that Ben Kindel had a medical episode on the team's flight on Tuesday.
The Penguins' team physician, Dr. Dharmesh Vyas, was on board to tend to Kindel as the plane returned to Salt Lake Cty. The 19-year-old center is at University of Utah Hospital for further evaluation.
"The Pittsburgh Penguins team plane returned to the Salt Lake City International Airport today shortly after takeoff due to a medical episode involving forward Ben Kindel," the team said in their full announcement. "Team physician, Dr. Dharmesh Vyas of UPMC, as well as the team's medical staff were on board and immediately attended to Ben.
"An ambulance was waiting upon arrival, and he was taken to the University of Utah Hospital for further evaluation. Ben is conscious, alert and in stable condition.
"The health and safety of our players, as well as the privacy for their families, are our top priority. The team will provide further updates when appropriate."
The Penguins are coming off a 5-4 defeat to the Utah Mammoth on Monday, which is why the team was in Salt Lake City. The Florida Panthers are the next opponent for Pittsburgh at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.
Against Utah, Kindel played 18:53 of ice time and didn't get on the scoresheet. This season, Kindel has averaged 17:19 of ice time, and has two goals and four points in his first nine games of the campaign.
Last season, as a rookie, Kindle played in 77 games for the Penguins, putting up 17 goals and 35 points while averaging 15:04 of ice time.
With this emergency, there's no clarity on how long it'll take for the youngster to recover and be back in the Penguins' lineup. That adds to the long list of players that are unavailable for Pittsburgh.
Right winger Justin Brazeau and defensemen Ryan Graves and Trevor van Riemsdyk are all placed on IR. In addition to those sidelined players, defenseman Samuel Girard and right winger Bryan Rust are also not available for the team.
The Penguins are 3-6-1 following their first 10 outings of the year, and are on a four-game losing streak, sitting sixth in the Metropolitan Division.