When Benjamin Kindel and Harrison Brunicke stepped on the ice at Madison Square Garden last night, they etched themselves into Penguins history forever.

Per Penguins PR, the duo was just the third pair of teenage teammates to make their NHL debuts together. Oddly enough, each duo included one forward and one defenseman.

Their stories in getting to the NHL this year were both really fun to watch play out.

Brunicke, the team’s first pick of the 2024 draft at 44th overall, took serious strides last year in the Western Hockey League with the Kamloops Blazers, where he registered five goals and 25 assists (30 points) in 41 games despite playing for a struggling club.

At even a very reduced number of games, he was the highest-scoring defenseman on the team, and his work got him a trial run in the American Hockey League with Pittsburgh’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate.

The 19-year-old played ten games for the WBS Penguins and was on the blue line for each of their two playoff contests. Brunicke had some serious momentum heading into training camp this year, and after an excellent preseason, he’s earned himself a spot on the Opening Night roster.

But the bigger surprise in the season opening lineup is the 18-year-old Kindel, who was the organization’s first of three first round picks this past summer.

Kindel was coming off of a dominant season in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen, where he racked up 35 goals and 64 assists (99 points) in 65 regular season games. He added an additional eight goals and seven assists (15 points) in 11 playoff games.

Despite that success, it’s just so rare for a player not taken at say, first or second overall, let alone 11th overall, to make an NHL team out of the subsequent camp. But Kindel held his own in the preseason and impressed the front office enough to at least earn one of those nine-game trials in the NHL.

Even if he ends up returning to the WHL in a few weeks, just being able to make the team out of camp is an incredible accomplishment. Kindel is the first Penguins draft pick to make the team in the following season since Jordan Staal, all the way back in 2006. Staal was taken second overall that year.

Here’s a quick look at how each of those debut duos went.

Benjamin Kindel and Harrison Brunicke

Kindel and Brunicke’s shared moment got a lot more special as the puck dropped at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. To open the game, new Penguins head coach Dan Muse had both Kindel and Brunicke line up along Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang for their first-ever NHL shift.

Unfortunately for Brunicke, that first shift ended with the defenseman taking a hooking penalty against New York’s Adam Fox. Brunicke certainly needed some time to settle into the game, and over a lot of the first period or so he looked a little out of sorts.

As the game went on, however, he settled in nicely and blocked a pair of shots. Muse made sure to shelter him when possible, limiting him to 19 shifts totaling 15:21 on the ice, both team-lows in the game.

In addition to making his debut last night, Brunicke made NHL history as the first South African-born skater (and second overall player alongside goaltender Olaf Kölzig) to play in the NHL.

Kindel, meanwhile, looked more prepared from puck drop in this one. Though he did not tally a point in his first game, he did a lot of the little stuff well. He blocked a shot, recorded one, and won 80% of his draws at center. Despite being penciled in as the third-line center, he finished fifth among forwards with 15:11 of ice time in 17 total shifts.

He did not look like a rookie making his NHL debut last night. For long stretches, he looked like an experienced forward out there who knew where to be, what to do, and where to go. At 5’11, 180 pounds, Kindel perhaps doesn’t have all the size in the world yet, and some of the bigger bodies that New York boasted were able to knock him off the puck when needed.

Kindel even took the spot of Ville Koivunen on the top line late in the game, with Muse trusting the rookie to be out there with a one-goal lead and the Rangers nearing empty net territory.

That speaks volumes about how impressive Kindel was in his debut, and how much this new coaching staff isn’t afraid to elevate young players to those positions.

Kris Letang and Jordan Staal

The aforementioned Staal, the second overall pick in 2006, made his NHL debut at 18 years old, alongside 19-year-old defenseman Kris Letang as the Penguins opened their 2006-07 season hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at Mellon Arena.

Also making his debut as a teenager that year was Letang, an early third round selection by the Penguins back in 2005 and spent some additional back in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before arriving in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins soundly defeated the Flyers 4-0, but both Staal and Letang had quiet nights.

Staal recorded a pair of shots on goal, one of six Penguins to record multiple shots on Flyers goaltender Robert Esche. Staal clocked in 20 total shifts, amassing 12:03 of ice time.

Likewise, Letang also did not record a point in this one, and he did not register a shot on goal either. He did play considerably more ice time though, with 15:01 in 17 shifts. He was also a +1.

Like the track that Kindel could be on, Letang’s trial NHL run that season ended up with him being sent back to junior. He played seven games in the Penguins, scoring goals in back-to-back games but showing some growing pains on the defensive end.

Letang spent the rest of the 2006-07 season in the QMJHL, but snagged a full-time job in Pittsburgh the following year, where he has been ever since.

Staal, meanwhile, did stay in the NHL the whole season, playing in 81 games over his rookie season and leading the league with a 22.1% shooting percentage. He was named a member of the All-Rookie team and was a Calder Trophy finalist.

Mario Lemieux and Doug Bodger

Our last pair on the list, and the first ever to do it, features two players who were taken in the first round back in the summer of 1984. The 18-year-old Lemieux, obviously, was the first overall pick making his NHL debut in Boston, but he had fellow draftee defenseman and 18-year-old Doug Bodger alongside him.

Bodger was the ninth overall pick in that year’s class, helping anchor the blue line in Pittsburgh when he made the jump to the NHL right away as well.

Together, this game marked the beginning of a new era in Pittsburgh, with Lemieux being the star of the show in this game. Even though the Bruins ultimately took this one, 4-3, the Penguins did have early momentum. They got out to a 2-0 lead, in part because this was the game where Lemieux famously scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shift.

The Montreal native would also tally an assist in this game, earning an apple on Warren Young’s second goal of the game to mark a two-point night for Lemieux in his debut. He was a +1 in the game.

Bodger’s night was more quiet. He recorded three shots from the back end, but he did not earn himself a point on this night. He was an even zero in +/- in this one. He would score his first goal in the following game, however.

Bodger would play four and a half years in Pittsburgh, but his greatest contribution to the organization came when he was traded. In November of 1988, the Penguins swung a deal that involved Bodger heading up to Buffalo, and goaltender Tom Barrasso coming to the Penguins.

Lemieux, meanwhile, would go on to put up a 100-point rookie season in 73 games. He won the Calder Trophy that season and, well, I’m sure you know the rest.