Andrew Cristall is oozing with confidence ahead of what could be a pivotal training camp with the Washington Capitals.
The Capitals’ 2023 second-round draft pick spent his summer working out in British Columbia with Kaivo Hockey alongside a handful of BC-based NHL players including Connor Bedard, Kent Johnson, and former Caps forward Beck Malenstyn. There, Cristall continued to work on his skating, where, pun intended, he feels like he made great strides.
“Kind of on a little bit newer program for kind of my speed and my skating, and I think it’s helped a lot,” Cristall said when asked if he made any changes ahead of this season. “I feel a lot faster. We’re testing every two weeks with our sprints and on-ice sprints as well. And when you see numbers improving, it only helps your confidence.”
Cristall added that he spent time in the gym to get bigger and “get that weight up for battles in the corners.”
The forward prospect’s skating has been a focus ever since being picked by the Caps over two years ago. (Editor’s note: So was Filip Forsberg’s once upon a time.) A wizard with the puck, Cristall was arguably a first-round talent, who saw concerns about his speed and stride drop him to 40th overall.
Cristall was the leading scorer in the WHL last season after notching 132 points (48g, 84a) in 57 games, but placed seventh overall on The Athletic’s Capitals prospect list. In the ranking, Corey Pronman gave Cristall above average scores for his shot, puck skills, and hockey sense, but scored him below average on his skating.
Cristall’s issues have never been with the puck; it’s all about his skating. He has a powerful enough stride, but he is a technically odd skater who is naturally knock-kneed.
The Vancouver native has worked on his speed and elongating his stride ever since becoming a part of the Capitals organization, aware that it could be the one attribute that holds him back from potentially having the sterling NHL career he dreams about.
“Yeah, I worked with Wendy Marco in Development Camp and that was really good for me to work with her, and then I went back home in the summer and worked with a skating coach named Barb Aidelbaum,” Cristall told RMNB in 2024. “I worked with her the whole summer and I took some drills that she had for me and tried to apply during the year and stuff like that. I’ll be working with her again and I thought she helped me a lot.
“I thought I definitely had an extra step especially off the line and just my acceleration. I’m still working on getting more speed and [getting] my stride a little bit longer.”
Cristall is expected to compete for one of the Capitals open roster spots during training camp. If he doesn’t make the team, he’ll likely be a fixture with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, where he has served as a playoff black ace the past two years, but ultimately did not play.
Below is the rest of Cristall’s conversation with reporters after the first day of Rookie Camp in Annapolis, MD.
Q: How pumped are you knowing that you’re starting your professional career this season?
Andrew Cristall: Yeah, it’s super exciting. It’s what I’ve been working towards for a while, and especially this summer doing some things to kind of prepare for that, but super, super happy to be here and pretty pumped up to go.
Q: How much confidence do you pull from the way you played in the preseason last year as you come into camp this year?
Andrew Cristall: Yeah, I think a good amount. I think throughout the preseason that I was here and then another good year in the dub (WHL), I think I can kind of bring confidence in both those things. Then again, you’ve got to prove it every day, and whether it’s a skate like this or a preseason game or whatnot, you’ve got to prove it every day and earn it. So you can pull that confidence, but you don’t want to get really too complacent. You always kind of want to keep pushing.
Q: What advice did the Caps give you last season when you went back down for the year?
Andrew Cristall: Yeah, I think it was a lot of positives from camp and the preseason and just go back to the dub and try and win, try and win a championship, be a leader on whatever team I was on, and try and win at the end of the day. So obviously came up short of that, but we had a good year in Spokane and a pretty good start in Kelowna as well. So I think all in all, it was a pretty good year.
Q: I think this is your third camp, meaning the guys who’ve been drafted the year same as you and the two years since and there’s so many of you guys that are going to be first-year pros this year.
Andrew Cristall: Yeah.
Q: What’s that bond like just as it forms, knowing that you guys are the future?
Andrew Cristall: It’s pretty special. I think all the guys here, and we’re super close, and we’re always joking around on the bus or at dinners and in our rooms, whether we’re watching the football game or doing something like that. I think we’re all super close, and everybody wants everyone to succeed at the end of the day. But, you know, hopefully we can all make it one day and hopefully win. So that’s the goal, but it’s a pretty close group.
Q: You and Ilya spent a long time out there after the skate. What stands out to you when you watch him on the ice?
Andrew Cristall: Yeah, he’s a horse. Obviously, you guys see him on the ice. He’s a pretty big player, and he’s just so smart. His stick is so good. He can pick corners, and he’s just, yeah, a force on the ice. And he’s pretty fun to play with. And just like you said out there, talking to each other, giving each other some information and tips. I think it helps a lot.
