The Winter Olympics are well underway in Milan, and the ice hockey tournament features National Hockey League talent for the first time since the 2014 Games in Sochi.

Here in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have sent four players off to the Milan Games: Sidney Crosby for Canada, Arturs Silovs for Latvia, and Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell for Sweden.

For the rest of the players, they’ll enjoy a few weeks off to rest and reset ahead of the NHL’s return on February 25th.

While time off might be beneficial for some players, there’s also a few who might suffer more harm than good as a result of the Olympic break. Here’s three players who might be negatively impacted by the pause.

Ben Kindel

Kindel has already surpassed what anyone could have expected from him this season. The 18-year-old forward was a surprise member of the opening night roster, something virtually unheard of for an 11th overall pick just months after his selection.

Throughout his rookie season, Kindel has displayed such an elite level of understanding and processing the game. Rarely, if ever, has he looked like an 18-year-old rookie on the ice.

Kindel’s lack of goal-scoring was scrutinized by some, even if he was still putting in some quality work for his age. From mid-December to late-January, Kindel went over a month without a goal. But, on the final game of the team’s Pacific Northwest road trip, Kindel scored twice in Vancouver, kicking off a massive hot streak.

Including that game vs the Canucks, Kindel scored in four of his final six games and tallied six total goals. Three of those goals were game-winners. Kindel also recorded an assist and a +9 rating for the Penguins. It was the one thing missing from Kindel’s game over the last several weeks, and to see him finally get rewarded with some goals was awesome.

Unfortunately, the Olympic break might put his goal-scoring momentum to a screeching halt. Normally, I would say that a multi-week break would benefit someone like Kindel.

We often talk about the rookie wall that players start to feel around the 60-game mark of the season, and given this year’s schedule has been condensed to accommodate the Olympics, an extended breather could help him stay fresh down the stretch.

However, given how hot of a streak he was on heading into this pause, time away from the rink might harm his production coming back.

Egor Chinakov

Right before the new year, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas swung a trade for Chinakov, a disgruntled winger out of Columbus who was eager for a new environment.

The former first-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2020 had requested a trade during the summer, citing disagreements with then-head coach Dean Evason. Columbus opted to keep both men through the offseason, but as the Blue Jackets struggled to open the year, finally explored a move.

On December 30th, they traded Chinakov to Pittsburgh for a second-round pick in 2026, a third-round pick in 2027, and forward Danton Heinen.

At the time, the deal was seen as a bit of an overpay by the Penguins. Chinakov’s Blue Jackets numbers this season weren’t what you’d call impressive, and his reputation to that point was a guy who had flash-in-the-pan moments, but nothing too consistent.

Since coming to Pittsburgh, Chinakov has blossomed. Playing largely with a fellow countryman in Russian Evgeni Malkin, Chinakov has nearly tripled his goal total from his time with the Blue Jackets this season. Chinakov has eight goals with the Penguins to just three in Columbus.

He has 12 points in 18 games with the Penguins so far this season, and has yet to go more than two games without scoring a goal. An increased role and more chemistry with his linemates has allowed Chinakov to fully unleash his lethal shot.

It’s hard to see Chinakov completely falling off a cliff coming out of the Olympic break, but some of the momentum he has generated over the last month and a half with Pittsburgh could cool off when the Penguins return to the ice.

Thomas Novak

Novak has had an interesting season with the Penguins. Acquired at the deadline last year, Novak suffered an injury almost immediately and was sidelined for the rest of the season.

So, this season was his first real introduction to Penguins fans. At the beginning of the year, Novak didn’t have a clear role on this roster. Over the course of the season, though, he has established himself more and more in the lineup.

Novak now has 11 goals and 20 assists (31 points) in 56 games this season, and is on pace to just barely edge his career-high of 45, set back in 2023-24.

More recently, head coach Dan Muse has found a winning combination of Novak centering the second line, shifting Evgeni Malkin over to the wing alongside Chinakov. That line has brought out the best in all three players and has really helped Novak heat up. Ten of his 31 points on the season have come in the last 11 games.

Novak was riding a three-game point streak heading into the break and had scored in two of those games. He was playing his best hockey as a Penguin, and icing him for over two weeks might slow down that great pace he was on.