Jakub Kindl

Jakub Kindl (born 10 February 1987) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for Kiekko-Pojat of Mestis, the second tier of professional hockey in Finland. He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers.

Playing career As a youth, Kindl played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Chomutov.

Kindl played junior hockey for the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL and then for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. Kindl was drafted 19th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2005 NHL Draft.

During the 2005–06 season, Kindl played in three games for Grand Rapids, where he recorded one assist. During the 2007–08 season, he played in 75 games for Grand Rapids.

Kindl made his NHL debut with the Red Wings during the 2009–10 NHL season. Called up as an injury replacement, he eventually appeared in three games before returning to Grand Rapids. Kindl scored his first career NHL goal on 20 January 2011 against Jaroslav Halák of the St. Louis Blues.

On 29 June 2013, Kindl signed a four-year, $9.6 million contract extension with the Detroit Red Wings.

On 14 February 2015, the Red Wings assigned Kindl to the Grand Rapids Griffins for a conditioning assignment. Kindl has not played for the Red Wings since suffering an elbow injury on 27 December 2014. On 20 February 2015, the Red Wings recalled Kindl from his conditioning assignment with the Griffins. During his condition assignment, Kindl recorded one goal, and a plus-two rating in back-to-back wins for the Griffins.

On 9 January 2016, Kindl was placed on waivers and later assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Prior to being placed on waivers, he played in 23 games with the Red Wings, recording two goals and three assists. His plus-3 rating in overtime leads the Wings this season. On 4 February, Kindl was recalled by the Red Wings. Prior to being recalled by the Red Wings, Kindl recorded two goals and one assist in nine games for the Griffins since he was assigned on 11 January. He was again assigned to the Griffins on 23 February.

On 27 February 2016, Kindl was traded by the Red Wings to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.

At the conclusion of his contract with the Panthers, Kindl left the NHL as a free agent and later returned to his homeland in signing a one-year deal with HC Plzeň of the Czech Extraliga on 18 October 2017.

After two seasons with Plzeň, Kindl left at the conclusion of his contract continuing his European career in Germany by agreeing to a one-year contract with Kölner Haie of the DEL on 5 July 2019.

On 2 December 2022, he signed for Storhamar Hockey in Fjordkraft-ligaen for the remainder of the 2022/23 season. He later extended his contract until the 2023–24 season.

After not playing for most of 2024-25, Kindl signed on 5 February 2025 to play the remainder of the season with Kiekko-Pojat in Mestis, the second tier of professional hockey in Finland.

International play Kindl represented the Czech Republic at the 2014 IIHF World Championship, where he recorded one goal and two assists in ten games.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2001–02 HC IPB Pojišťovna Pardubice CZE U18 23 4 10 14 30 6 1 1 2 8 2001–02 HC IPB Pojišťovna Pardubice CZE U20 19 1 1 2 20 — — — — — 2002–03 HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice CZE U18 3 0 3 3 10 — — — — — 2002–03 HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice CZE U20 16 0 1 1 22 11 0 2 2 26 2002–03 HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice ELH 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2003–04 HC Moeller Pardubice CZE U18 2 0 1 1 6 — — — — — 2003–04 HC Moeller Pardubice CZE U20 48 4 14 18 108 — — — — — 2003–04 HC VCES Hradec Králové CZE.2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2004–05 Kitchener Rangers OHL 62 3 11 14 92 12 0 0 0 22 2005–06 Kitchener Rangers OHL 60 12 46 58 112 5 1 0 1 10 2005–06 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2006–07 Kitchener Rangers OHL 54 11 44 55 142 9 2 9 11 8 2006–07 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL — — — — — 7 0 2 2 0 2007–08 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 75 3 14 17 82 — — — — — 2008–09 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 78 6 27 33 76 10 2 1 3 2 2009–10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 73 3 30 33 59 — — — — — 2009–10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 2 2 4 36 — — — — — 2010–11 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 8 1 4 5 6 — — — — — 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings NHL 55 1 12 13 25 — — — — — 2012–13 HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice ELH 27 1 10 11 26 — — — — — 2012–13 Detroit Red Wings NHL 41 4 9 13 28 14 1 4 5 10 2013–14 Detroit Red Wings NHL 66 2 17 19 24 4 0 0 0 2 2014–15 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 2 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 2014–15 Detroit Red Wings NHL 35 5 8 13 22 1 0 0 0 0 2015–16 Detroit Red Wings NHL 25 2 4 6 14 — — — — — 2015–16 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 10 3 1 4 12 — — — — — 2015–16 Florida Panthers NHL 19 0 2 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 2016–17 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 13 1 6 7 16 — — — — — 2016–17 Florida Panthers NHL 39 0 4 4 28 — — — — — 2017–18 HC Škoda Plzeň ELH 30 1 3 4 32 7 1 2 3 2 2018–19 HC Škoda Plzeň ELH 26 2 8 10 36 — — — — — 2019–20 Kölner Haie DEL 48 1 9 10 22 — — — — — 2021–22 HC Škoda Plzeň ELH 43 3 7 10 32 — — — — — 2022–23 Storhamar Hockey FKL 19 2 12 14 24 17 0 5 5 6 2023–24 Storhamar Hockey EHL 26 2 12 14 6 14 1 5 6 18 ELH totals 84 4 21 25 94 7 1 2 3 2 NHL totals 331 16 58 74 181 20 1 4 5 12 DEL totals 48 1 9 10 22 — — — — — FKL / EHL totals 45 4 24 28 30 31 1 10 11 24

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2006 Czech Republic WJC 8th 6 0 1 1 10 2007 Czech Republic WJC 5th 6 0 4 4 8 2014 Czech Republic WC 4th 10 1 2 3 6 Junior totals 12 0 5 5 18 Senior totals 10 1 2 3 6