Andrew Cristall was the biggest surprise of Washington Capitals Training Camp.
Now, he’s returning to the Kelowna Rockets, where he’ll continue to play a huge role in the WHL junior team’s success.
Wednesday, Cristall was named to the Rockets’ leadership committee for a second consecutive season. The 19-year-old forward will serve as an alternate captain. Max Graham, a 20-year-old forward for the team, was named the 29th captain in franchise history.
Graham was recently selected by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft after being passed over entirely the two years prior.
The Kelowna Rockets are proud to announce its leadership group for the 2024-25 season.
Max Graham has been named the 29th captain in franchise history while Caden Price, Andrew Cristall and Tij Iginla will all be assistant captains.
DETAILS 📰: https://t.co/H56qpMK3lm pic.twitter.com/ULn9YQWA2a
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) October 9, 2024
“We’re excited and pleased to have Max Graham as our captain for the 2024-25 season,” Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton said. “He is a fearless leader who leads by example.”
Cristall added, “He’s a guy you like to go to war with because he’ll do anything for his teammates. Whether it’s getting physical, protecting his teammates, putting up points … he can kind of do it all. He’s a really good leader and we’re happy to have him.”
Joining the Capitals’ second-round pick on the leadership committee are first-time assistant captains Tij Iginla and Caden Price. Iginla was the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Utah Hockey Club, while Price was a 2023 third-round pick of the Seattle Kraken.
“That’s obviously a pretty good core, both for our team and in this league,” Cristall said to the Rockets. “We’ve got to be the guys pushing the load every night and kind of showing the younger players how to play and then what to do on the ice and hopefully that leads to more wins. It’s a pretty good group for sure.”
Cristall will look to improve on his huge 2023-24 campaign where he tallied 111-points (40 goals, 71 assists) in 62 games — good for a 1.79 points per game average. He’ll also look to play his way onto Team Canada at the U20 2025 World Junior Championship after being snubbed by the team last year.
