{"id":51096,"date":"2025-07-09T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51096\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:00:10","slug":"andrew-cristall-eager-to-start-his-professional-hockey-career-i-think-im-ready-to-turn-the-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51096\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Cristall eager to start his professional hockey career: \u2018I think I\u2019m ready to turn the page\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Cristall<\/strong> knows the 2025-26 season could be his best opportunity yet to break into the NHL<\/a>, and he\u2019s not about to throw away his chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big opportunity\u2026 It\u2019s not something I\u2019m taking for granted,\u201d the 20-year-old forward told Mike Vogel on the\u00a0Break the Ice\u00a0podcast\u00a0on Sunday<\/a>. \u201cI think I\u2019m ready to turn the page and go pro.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Washington Capitals\u2019 2023 second-round draft pick nearly made the team last season with an impressive training camp showing but ultimately was sent back to complete his junior career in the WHL.\u00a0Cristall split the 2024-25 campaign with the Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs, finishing\u00a0as the league\u2019s top scorer after tallying a career-high 132 points (48g, 84a) in 57 games. He then tacked on an additional 41 points (21g, 20a) in 19 playoff games, falling just shy of a WHL championship with the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a devastating loss, and you never want to lose, but there\u2019s always something to take out of it. It\u2019s a learning experience\u2026 It\u2019s a feeling that you don\u2019t really want to feel again. So, it\u2019s definitely a big motivation,\u201d Cristall reflected. \u201cI had a long run in junior, and hopefully in pro hockey, can do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Capitals\u2019 2025 Development Camp was Cristall\u2019s third since hearing his name called at the draft in Nashville. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the opening night roster last year, he believes the experience has just made him that much better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really good. I feel really confident,\u201d Cristall said, crediting the relationships he\u2019s built with team staff at Capitals MedStar Iceplex for helping him acclimate to an NHL environment and building pro habits easily.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just are so welcoming and they have so much knowledge,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhether it\u2019s stuff on the ice, off the ice, how to eat, how to take care of your body, there\u2019s so many different things that they have so much information on. It\u2019s been a really good learning experience to kind of ask questions and bounce ideas off, whether it\u2019s the player development or strength coaches and whatnot. I feel really good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristall\u00a0is also a big student of the game<\/a>. He said he spent significant time with Capitals skills coach Kenny McCudden to \u201crun through some drills\u201d and with player development coach\u00a0Jim Slater to improve his play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my defensive game has come around a lot, and I feel like I have a really good stick and can kind of see things in the defensive zone that can maybe get the puck back and create a turnover,\u201d Cristall said. \u201cSo, I think that\u2019s definitely a big improvement in my game as well. Just my skating, my speed has come a long way too, but still a lot of work on both those areas to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristall fell to the Caps at 40th overall in the 2023 draft due to concerns about his skating, defensive play, compete level, and somewhat smaller frame. However, since then, the five-foot-nine winger has used critiques like that only to push himself further.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve handled those conversations pretty well, and I think it\u2019s probably more of a credit to the staff on communicating what you need to do, and we need to improve on to kind of get to the next level,\u201d he said. \u201cThe conversations I\u2019ve had after development camps and training camps are all positive, but they kind of send you back with a little bit of fuel to the fire on what you need to do to try and make the team\u2026 Going from junior to pro hockey is just a lot faster. I think the pace is just up a whole other level, and I think if I can play with pace and work on my speed and things like that, I think I\u2019ll be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

After meeting the Capitals\u2019 newest additions from the 2025 NHL Draft and reuniting with some familiar faces from previous development camps, Cristall is excited to eventually put on a Capitals sweater with his potential future teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we have a really strong group of prospects,\u201d Cristall said. According to the young winger, part of this year\u2019s group of prospects took a trip to the National Zoo for some off-ice bonding to help build important chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle things like that, where we can talk and get to know the new guys a little bit and just have fun. I think that\u2019s the biggest thing away from the rink, we all have a good time together,\u201d Cristall said.<\/p>\n

A couple of particular prospects Cristall is keen on playing with at the next level are Caps\u2019 2024 draft selections Cole Hutson and Ilya Protas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think playing with Cole would be awesome, especially on the power play,\u201d he theorized. \u201cHe can maneuver a puck so well, and he\u2019s just so skilled and just puts his teammates in the right spots to make a play. So, I think playing with him would be pretty awesome. And then a guy like Little Pro, I think, would be super fun to play with\u2026 He\u2019s just so skilled and so big. He can win a puck and throw a flat sauce on the ice \u2013 and he could score as well. Such a big body and super smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristall is also familiar with the team\u2019s 2025 first-round draft pick Lynden Lakovic. The pair faced off once in October before Cristall was traded to Spokane, a\u00a06-0 Kelowna victory<\/a>\u00a0where he had a four-point night (1g, 3a).<\/p>\n

\u201cLynden, I\u2019ve only played him a couple times in the Western League, actually, since we\u2019re on the other side of the conference, but he\u2019s obviously a really big player and could skate really well, and he\u2019s got an unreal shot,\u201d Cristall said. \u201cSo, another good addition. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we can all be playing together and try and win a Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristall will come to training camp in the fall, likely battling with fellow Capitals prospects Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Bogdan Trineyev, Henrik Rybinksi, and Ethen Frank for a spot within the team\u2019s bottom-six forward group<\/a>. The Caps saw forwards Lars Eller, Andrew Mangiapane, and Taylor Raddysh all depart in free agency, and just 10 of the club\u2019s regular forwards from their playoff run will be back for the 2025-26 campaign.<\/p>\n

If Cristall does not make the NHL roster out of camp, he\u2019ll be sent to the AHL\u2019s Hershey Bears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Cristall knows the 2025-26 season could be his best opportunity yet to break into the NHL, and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-51096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114822697741616574","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}