Andrew Cristall was snubbed from Team Canada’s 2025 World Junior Championship roster. Despite being the most productive player in the entire CHL, the 19-year-old forward was not included on the national team for a second consecutive season.
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Cristall’s absence is even more surprising considering how close he was to making the Washington Capitals out of training camp this past fall. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery gave Cristall four NHL preseason games and made him one of the team’s final two cuts.
“Yeah, disappointing,” Carbery said Saturday. “It’s too hard to comment on because you just don’t know how he looked in the training camp, and I haven’t watched his game close enough other than just following the numbers and the highlights, which lead you to believe that he’s having a phenomenal year. From all of our internal reports, he’s playing great.
“You thought that he would have a really good argument to be on that team with the season that he’s having so that – and I watched his interview after the camp, before they named [the roster]. You could feel in that interview how much it meant to him and how badly he wanted to represent his country at the World Juniors. I feel for him right now, but he’s got – if I could speak to him through here – he’s got big things ahead in his career and a lot to look forward to.”
Cristall has 51 points (22g, 29a) in 21 games for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets this season. The Vancouver native returned to Canadian major junior after tying for the Capitals’ preseason lead in scoring with three points (2g, 1a) in four games.
Carbery was complimentary of Cristall’s time with the big club. The young winger was the surprise of camp and had a strong case to make his professional debut this year. Unfortunately, Cristall could not be assigned to the AHL due to the CHL-NHL transfer agreement.
“He does a lot of good things, and he’s around the puck, so he’s earned and proven that he deserves to be here right until the bitter end,” Carbery said in October. “Simply put, he earned that opportunity to play one more game through the camp that he’s had.”
Cristall should still make his pro debut this year, but he will have to wait until his season in the WHL concludes. Next year, he will be free to play his first full pro season in the Capitals’ organization.
