Andrew Cristall

[CaveatEmptorer]

I know theres lots of data out there but I wouldnt mind starting a thread here to see what the scuttlebutt is on this kid.

I like to start following the draft rankings at about the midway mark of the season when the craziness has subsided and the nonsense has been sorted out by variance. When I started doing that before this draft a top name I kept hearing on Scouching, THW, Locked On, etc- was Andrew Cristall. I know we allhave our different preferences on guys but just from hearing a description of how he plays, his comps and his upside- i decided early that Cristall was probably going to be one of "my guys" that year- lol! There were knocks of course- footspeed being the biggest but his size was not great either and apparently there was some criticism about his game to game consistency- the type of player that was fine when they were on but noticable for all the wrong reasons on an off night. On the other side of the coin though his stickhandling/dangling was appently absurdly good- and as good as he was as a playmaker he also had a wicked, accurate wrister that he emplotyed to great efficency as well. His point per game pace in his draft year (1.75) was second by a 17 year old only to Bedard- ahead of notable names like Benson, Savoie Heidt. The only guy with a higher ppg pace was the legend himselg Logan "Stankyleg" Stankoveb at 2.02. Not that it matters but I always thought it was neat that hes got a roller hockey team with two of his good buddies- Connor Bedard and Kent Johnson as well. Its not what id call hard evidence of anything but I gotta think it would take a legitmiate amount of skill/hockey IQ to keep up with those two.

Scouching had him as their 6th best prospect at one point (Nov/22)- I know he makes a few longshots every year but this wasnt really out of the range of most other lists- not by a wide margin anyways. By the time the dust settled he was ranked the 15th best skater in NA- and looked to be at least a 1st rounders with opinions ranging wildly on where hed go. If you looked HERE- youd find he was ranked to go 7th overall. Im personally a fan of this particular site and sites like it because they take a Bob Mackenzie-like approach and just make aggregate lists from multiple sources- which he lists- and which I think help eliminate at least some of the bias. However you could still find examples of legitmate outlets like THIS one- who had him slipping a lot further than that all the way to 27th...

I had a bit of a hunch he could fall based on a theory I was putting together. The theory was that in the modern NHL a lot of teams didnt mind gambling on a smaller player from time to time and they also didnt mind gambling on a slow player from time to time- but it seemeed like they were very relkuctant to gamble on guysa were both. Tbh- I think that might actually make sense because there are just very few slow and small players that are able to make an impact at the NHL level and if they do its usually in more of a depth role. The example that sticks in my brain is Kailer Yamomoto. Im not sure Ive seen a guy have his upsde go form "the skys the limit" to "Middle sixer at best" faster than he did- lol! So not only did I think thats what prcipitated his fall on the draft- I do think its a legit yellow flag here.

That being said though- the scoring pace this year was very similar but he managed to dodge the injury bug most of the year and on top of that he was part of a leadership group that had some amazing successes this year. Closing out the season they needed a strong finish to secure a playoff spot and the team as a whole managed to close out the season with 9-2-1-1 over their final 13 games. Its a whole team effort but you have to love seeing that. It sounds like the team actually kept Iginla and Cristall apart for chunkc of the season last year but there was certainly some degree of exposure there- and Ive always wondered what the effect of a high IQ play facillitator like Cristall would have on a power forward/shooter like Iggy. Im not attirbuiting all of his success to Cristall this year but you have to wonder if it didnt play a role in Tij's breakout- which was MONSTROUS; 18 in 48 for 0.375 TO 84 in 64 for 1.31.

I know opinions will be all over the map and fair enough- but Im always the most intrigued by finding the outliers- the guys whose percieved value has taken a hit for whatever reason (in this case slipping in the draft) while their actual production just stays the same or in some cases improves. I dropped my two cents on the Leonard/Smith/Cowan thread because I wasnt sure Cowan was getting a fair shake- but if I had to pick an outlier/upside type of player worth keeping an eye on- I really think itd be Cristall and the reality is hes not even getting all that much coverage on a lot of scouting/analytics podcasts and videos. No one is saying his play is slipping or anything but theyure laso not really talking about that upside either. It just feels like the temperature on Cristall is pretty tepid at the moment and while I can sort of understand- he didnt go nuclear in a league hes already sort of mastered but there was a lot of upside there to begin with and all the signs I CAN find are positive.

I thought this thread would be a good place to keep track of anything people can find on him. If its data/info/commentary that hes not all that great- thats fine too- Im interested in hearing perspectives from all angles to get a read as close to the mark as we can get it. I sort of had him in that Stankoven/Hutson mould but then again he could end up more on the Yamomoto side of things too... Would love to hear what the thinking around him is!

[finnys_fanatsy]

:following:

i git to watch him when teh played vs the Pats this past season, and ya he was noticeable

[random-d]

I remember I made a decision to avoid him in last year's draft because in the videos I watched he seemed lazy/disinterested in playing the defensive end of the ice. That's going to make it hard for him to make a roster. I'd be happy to see evidence that that has improved but if it hasn't I'm going to sit back and feel like I made a good decision there.

[CaveatEmptorer]

I remember I made a decision to avoid him in last year's draft because in the videos I watched he seemed lazy/disinterested in playing the defensive end of the ice. That's going to make it hard for him to make a roster. I'd be happy to see evidence that that has improved but if it hasn't I'm going to sit back and feel like I made a good decision there.

Id be lying if I hadnt heard the same criticism at times. I DO think sometimes the very high IQ players tend to look lazier than they are because they just sort of intuitively no where to get to a step or two ahead of the play- but even in interviews you get that almost Zegras vibe where it just sort of seems like hes assuming hes got a spot sown up- and thats really not what you want to see out of a player competing for a roster spot regardless of how skilled they are. Im hoping he can improve on that too- as much as Im hoping he invests in some power skating classes- lol! His skating mechanics are actually very good apparently in terms of edgework, agility and overall control- he ranks well above average there actually- but his top speed is... not good.

Hes a risk for sure- but the BOOM here is pretty respectable...

[CaveatEmptorer]

:following:

i git to watch him when teh played vs the Pats this past season, and ya he was noticeable

Nice!! Ive watched a few higlight packages on him- theyre not especially helpful for scouting/projecting but once in awhile a player comes along where its worth watching anyways and Im with you-hes certainly fun to watch! I know the opinions will be split but I think this could be one of those under the radar types who just blows the roof off things. If he stays in Washington youve got Leonard on the wing (presumably) who can create the space he needs to work his magic and I imagine those two could run the cycle for days at atime- then you have McMichael as a guy a lot of scouts are still quite high on as another potential triggerman or even the defensive conscience of the line. Lapierre, Miro -there is a lot to like coming up through that prospect system and one great thing about Cristall is that he seems to establish good chemistry with just about whoever he plays with.

[senryu]

We know what the deal is, if he plays in the NHL, he'll probably be fantasy relevant. He might not play because his commitment to defense is suspect. All we can do is wait to see if he gets to the NHL. Best case scenario for him is to get on a team with no aspirations for success where he can rack up points because the team's success doesn't matter. He probably won't play for a good team unless his defense becomes passable.

[Belexus75]

i think Cristal has offensive awareness but he is a bit lazy at times , i think that i can easily changed with maturity. I personally think he will be just fine at NHL level.

I think players that dont know how to play defense are much bigger trouble at NHL level than those who know but dont want to....time will tell but i would not cross him out at all.

[CaveatEmptorer]

i think Cristal has offensive awareness but he is a bit lazy at times , i think that i can easily changed with maturity. I personally think he will be just fine at NHL level.

I think players that dont know how to play defense are much bigger trouble at NHL level than those who know but dont want to....time will tell but i would not cross him out at all.

I agree with that- Im not loving the small and slow combo either- but man that production is something else...

[CaveatEmptorer]

We know what the deal is, if he plays in the NHL, he'll probably be fantasy relevant. He might not play because his commitment to defense is suspect. All we can do is wait to see if he gets to the NHL. Best case scenario for him is to get on a team with no aspirations for success where he can rack up points because the team's success doesn't matter. He probably won't play for a good team unless his defense becomes passable.

Thats a good way to put it. I get the impression that hes one of these guys that just sort of assumes he'll play on a team and he might even see himself as a surefire star. I love his skill set but if something has to change its THAT. If you want to ply your craft on an NHL team kid-you still have major work to do on the defensive side of the puck. You cant just assume your offense will carry you. Thats what Jakub Vrana did- weve seen how that one ends- haha! I think his actual skill could be top ten in this draft but if he doesnt nudge his attitude in the right direction he might just never play in the NHLeither...

Talk about a wide range of outcomes...

[joe jones]

I watched him a few times in person this year. I don't have any scouting abilities but he was easily the best player on the ice each time I watched him (over players like Honzek and Iginla and older players like Stuzrc). I am of the view that he will be a star in the NHL. Looking forward to seeing him play with and versus better talent.

[joe jones]

Unfortunately Cristall has a Feb birthday. As I understand the NHL/CHL agreement, because he doesn't turn 20 before Dec 31, he cannot play in the AHL this upcoming year. The rule does say it doesn't apply if the player has played 4 seasons in the CHL, but suspect that means 4 full seasons (as Cristall played only part of the 20-21 season in the CHL).

Looks like he hasn't yet played in the Calder cup playoffs this year for Hershey.

[CaveatEmptorer]

Unfortunately Cristall has a Feb birthday. As I understand the NHL/CHL agreement, because he doesn't turn 20 before Dec 31, he cannot play in the AHL this upcoming year. The rule does say it doesn't apply if the player has played 4 seasons in the CHL, but suspect that means 4 full seasons (as Cristall played only part of the 20-21 season in the CHL).

Looks like he hasn't yet played in the Calder cup playoffs this year for Hershey.

This is great info- ty!

Ugh- I thought last year was treading water playing in junior again- hes got real work to do in terms of adding mass, playing against men AND not leaning on his... silky muitts... so much ... if hes in the same position next year... its not impossible this has resounding long term effects on his development... Im just saying it bears monitoring...

[joe jones]

This CHL article suggests Cristall is not eligible for the AHL next year - dated April 2024.
https://chl.ca/whl-rockets/article/w...ahl-affiliate/

"The 2005-born forward will not be eligible to play in the AHL full-time next season, he must either make Washington’s NHL squad or be returned to the Rockets for his nineteen year old season."

[cappy76]

As a Caps fan and someone who has followed him I can confirm that he's not eligible for AHL next season. He's actually no longer with the Bears as of this week where he was around the team as a "black ace" over the last few weeks. As for his skating I believe after the draft during the rookie camp in DC that he (or the team) mentioned him getting in some time with the Caps skating coach and that they worked with him a lot and were impressed with how well he was soaking in the information and actively wanting to improve in those areas going into this years CHL season. So there's hope at least that he has a good head on his shoulders and is willing to put in the work where his game is lacking in order to improve and make an impact at the NHL level.