The 2026 NHLPA Rookie Showcase is underway in Chicago at the Blackhawks Ice Center Presented by Fifth Third Bank.
Many of the NHL’s top young players have gathered for the event, which Upper Deck primarily uses to capture photos, videos, autographs, and memorabilia for future trading-card releases and promotional materials. The NHLPA also treats the showcase as an informal orientation, introducing prospects to the business, media, and marketing demands of playing in the NHL.
The Washington Capitals are represented by Cole Hutson and forward Andrew Cristall, and are one of just five teams with two players at the event.
The two future teammates snapped a selfie together in their Capitals’ home jerseys on Wednesday for a social media post by Upper Deck.
The pair got in some on-ice content, posing for a group photo with their peers. Cristall is notably back rocking the number 28 — the jersey number he’s worn for the Capitals during preseasons and training camps — after donning number 20 in the AHL with the Hershey Bears this past year.
Hutson and Cristall also participated in a quickfire Q&A, answering questions about their gameday routines, superstitions, and pregame meals.
“My superstition is being not superstitious,” Hutson said.
“When I get changed, I usually put my right side on before my left side,” Cristall answered.
Hutson added that he usually takes a nap and eats steak or chicken and potatoes or rice before games.
The showcase is also the first time Toronto Maple Leafs fans have gotten to see top prospect Gavin McKenna in a full Leafs uniform. The 18-year-old winger is just over a month removed from being selected first overall by Toronto in the 2026 NHL Draft.
McKenna sheepishly tested out a few goal celebrations for Upper Deck’s cameras in front of a green screen.
Most of the content surrounding the event focuses on trading cards, especially with the National Sports Collectors Convention taking place July 29 through August 2 at the nearby Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Hutson will be one of a handful of prospects in attendance at the convention on Thursday to interact with fans.
Upper Deck also had the prospects draw a self-portrait on a “Sketch Card,” which will likely be inserted in a future product for collectors to pull.
Hutson is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he signed with the Capitals out of Boston University and posted 10 points (3g, 7a) in 14 games. Meanwhile, Cristall spent his entire rookie pro season with the Bears, recording 60 points (20g, 40a), and was the team’s top postseason producer, notching 7 points (2g, 5a) in 6 games.
Both players will be back in DC this fall for training camp, with Hutson, a potential Calder Trophy favorite, looking to further establish himself with the Capitals while Cristall is seeking to make the team out of camp for the first time.
