Eight months after nearly making the Capitals’ opening night roster, Andrew Cristall is back in DC with another year of experience and one fewer tooth.
A high stick to the face had knocked out one of Cristall’s front incisors during his season with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, leaving him with hockey’s signature toothless grin at the Capitals’ 2025 Development Camp this week. While he had a flipper to fill in the space, he told reporters Tuesday that he liked having the gap.
“I rocked the no tooth, (I) rocked the flipper when I’m going out for dinner with my parents or something, but I kind of like the (no-tooth) look,” he said. “If (Alex Ovechkin) can do it, maybe I’ll try.”
Listed at 5-foot-10, and 172 pounds, Cristall hardly fits the typical mold of a hockey player, but both the missing tooth and his on-ice success show otherwise. A second-round pick of the Capitals in 2023, Cristall has been a scoring phenom at the junior level, recording a league-leading 132 points (48g, 84a) in 57 WHL games last season. He came tantalizingly close to his NHL debut in October — an impressive training camp nearly earned him a spot on the Capitals — but was ultimately one of the final two cuts before Opening Night.
Cristall still felt good about his performance last fall, but it hadn’t dampened his desire to keep proving himself.
“I think every year is new,” he said. “I don’t really think come camp this year, it’s going to really matter what I did last year. I think it’s turning a whole new page, and I have a whole new opportunity to make the team and put my best foot forward. So it’s definitely a little bit of confidence from last year and I can take that into this year.”
The extra year in juniors also gave Cristall valuable playoff experience. After joining the Chiefs via trade mid-season, Cristall made it to the WHL Championship before Spokane fell to the Medicine Hat Tigers. He recorded 41 points (21g, 20a) in 19 postseason games, including an eight-game goal streak.
“It was awesome for me,” he said of his season. “I got traded at the deadline, and I was pretty fortunate to get put in a really good situation. It was kind of my first really long playoff run and going deep in the finals, and we had such a good team. It was really cool to learn that process of, how you’ve got to take care of yourself and the way you got to play in the playoffs to have success. It was just a really fun year, all in all.”
That performance left an impression on Capitals brass, especially after Cristall’s strong showing at training camp last year. General manager Chris Patrick told reporters Saturday that Cristall had a good shot at making the team this fall.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, I think,” Patrick said of Cristall’s future. “He’s going to come in, if he has a camp like last camp, it’s going to be hard on the coaching staff to not keep him on their NHL team. And if he’s not up here, he’s down in Hershey and getting adjusted to pro hockey. I think we’re going to see Andrew playing NHL games sooner rather than later.”
Now at his third Capitals Development Camp, Cristall is preparing for what he hopes will be the final push to the NHL level, looking to improve his size, speed, and defensive capabilities in hopes of earning a roster spot.
“(My mindset is) just being as ready as I can to try and come into camp and make the team,” he said. “I think same sort of thing, just getting bigger and faster, stronger, and just getting ready to win puck battles along the boards. Little details in the defensive zone, I think will help me a lot in camp. And so if I can do that, I think I can push the needle pretty well.”
