Andrew Cristall will don a Team Canada sweater at the 2024 World Junior Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan.
Cristall was among 41 players that Hockey Canada chose to play at USA Hockey Arena from July 26-August 3. The showcase will include practices and games against teams of prospects from the US, Sweden, and Finland.
Cristall is the only Capitals representation on the roster, as Washington’s 2024 first-round draft pick, Terik Parascask, was not selected.
Here is 🇨🇦’s roster for the WJSS (2/2):
F: Barkey, Beaudoin, Cataford, Catton, Collard, Cowan, Cristall, Gauthier, Heidt, Howe, Iginla, Lindstrom, Luchanko, Martone, Pinelli, Nadeau, Rehkopf, Wood, Ritchie, Romani, Sennecke, Spence, Wood, Yager
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) July 16, 2024
The 41 Canadians will also participate in Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase, which will include practices and intrasquad scrimmages. The camp and showcase tournament allows national teams to evaluate players for the upcoming U20 World Junior Championship.
Cristall will join up with the team after being snubbed from last season’s World Juniors roster. The 19-year-old winger has starred for his country at an international tournament before, tallying six points (1g, 5a) for Team Canada at the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. He also tied for fourth in scoring on Canada’s squad at the 2022 U18 World Championship.
“Yeah, I think [making the World Juniors team is] obviously a really big goal,” Cristall told RMNB’s Ian Oland in May. “I want to make that team and put myself in that conversation for sure. And then just going into next year, I want to have a good training camp and force [the Capitals] to make a hard decision on me and just try and work my hardest and see what happens.”
During the 2023-24 regular season with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, Cristall set new career highs in goals (40), assists (71), and points (111), notching two hat tricks and posting a milestone seven-point game. The prospect winger finished fifth in WHL scoring and tied for 13th in goals, averaging 1.79 points per game during his age-18 season.
Cristall eventually made his way to the AHL’s Hershey Bears on a tryout contract, serving as a black ace for a portion of the Bears’ successful run to a second straight Calder Cup. The NHL-CHL player transfer agreement would prevent Cristall from spending next season with the Bears, so he will either make the Capitals’ roster or return to the WHL.
“I think no matter what you can develop you know where you are,” Cristall said. “If that’s in the WHL, there’s a lot of things that I can do to get better and things that I can work on so that I can be ready to make that jump the next year. But yeah wherever I am, I’ll be happy.”
