During every season surrounding the NHL Entry Draft, there is one player that instantly signals the preference of scouts and draft fans alike. This year, that player is Andrew Cristall.
He fits into the mold of a hockey prospect that is highly debated among those that pay attention to the draft and have an internet connection. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, Cristall is a player on the smaller side but has been able to produce a whole lot of points.
More traditional scouts will say that he is simply too small to make it in professional hockey, and those that prefer the way the game of hockey is heading, will point at players like Johnny Gaudreau that have carved out a path to being a more than effective player at the top level, despite being even smaller than Cristall.
Some draft experts think Cristall is a top-10 talent, while others prefer the more safe picks and will have him later in the first round. Still, no matter what, he is a talent that is deserving of the first 20 or so selections.
The Kelowna Rockets player has grown up around elite hockey talent for a very long time. He has been connected at the hip of Connor Bedard since minor hockey and has other connections to Vancouver-area prospects like Kent Johnson and 2024 top prospect Macklin Celebrini. There is a hockey hotbed out there on the west coast and Cristall has been part of the center of it.
Pre-Draft Rankings
No. 14 By Sportsnet
No. 19 by EliteProspects
No. 15 (North American Skaters) by NHL Central Scouting
No. 18 by Bob McKenzie
No. 13 by Scott Wheeler/The Athletic
Statistics
Cristall is clearly talented offensively. Not many players are able to score a point per game in their first full season in the Canadian Hockey League and especially in the Western Hockey League. You can see players drafted much higher than where Cristall will be taken, that have just scored over just a point per game for their junior team. But here is Cristall, who scored 39 goals and 95 points in just 54 games for the Rockets last season.
He led his team in scoring by 16 points and was sixth in scoring in the entire WHL despite playing fewer games than all of the top-25 scorers. He is just able to produce everywhere he goes and that’s part of why he’ll earn a first-round selection.
What’s to like?
The most important thing to get across about Cristall is his puck skills. They are among the best in this draft class and only the very top of the top are at the same level when it comes to being able to control the puck and weave his way around defenders.
In every single highlight of his past season, it just looks like Cristall is thinking and acting at almost double the speed of every opponent. Defenders reaching out their stick takes the same amount of time as Cristall has turned 180-degrees, went into a mohawk stride, and then got the puck on his backhand to make a cross-ice pass to an open shooter. He is just so damn fun.
When he is on he is Very On and his talent shines through on every play he is involved in. He makes the correct passes and is able to enter the offensive zone with incredible ease but the highlights might just be showing the large tip of the iceberg that is the entire player of Cristall.
He might be the equivalent of an NBA prospect that has broken so many ankles in viral clips but there are some holes in his game that are not discussed too much when it comes to, well, playing the entire sport.
What’s not to like?
Scouts have been increasingly more skeptical if he is able to make it as an NHL hockey player. He might certainly be able to make it there but if he is able to sustain a career at the top level, they say that he will need to fix a whole lot about his work ethic and general effort he puts in every shift.
The points might be a little misleading, because just like how Cristall is on when he’s on, he is extremely off when he is off. There is now high floor when it comes to this player, it’s high-risk and high-reward all the way. His motor has been seen to come and go as more and more games have been attended by league scouts, and while he has been seen to make magic with the puck, sometimes he makes terrible passes and turns over possession too often.
Again, it’s high-risk, high-reward.
How would he fit in the Flyers system?
The Flyers have drafted risky players before, but maybe not with the same ceiling that Cristall has. Their top picks as of late like Cutter Gauthier, Cam York, and unfortunately Nolan Patrick, have leaned on the more “safe” side with a higher floor than the other picks that they could have made in those spots.
But, this is a new regime and they have said about how they need that top-end talent and if Cristall hits, he would be exactly that. His dynamic and high-speed skill is something that the Flyers are lacking in their current prospect pool, but he might not end up gelling in with the team.
Can the Flyers actually get him?
With the added second first-round pick in the Ivan Provorov trade sitting at 22nd overall, the likelihood of the Flyers drafting Cristall has increased a fair bit. Especially if they go with that traditional and less-risky pick at seventh overall (like a David Reinbacher or Ryan Leonard) then swinging for the fences with a Cristall pick in the second half of the draft could make so much sense.
Or, if Matvei Michkov is still hanging around when Philadelphia makes its first selection and the Flyers take him. Then drafting two risky wingers would be too much and this second first-round pick will be used on that comfortable type of player.
What scouts are saying
“Still one of my favourites in this class even after a first-round WHL playoff series and U18 worlds that underwhelmed many, Cristall is a creative, crafty playmaker who isn’t afraid to try things and possesses a rare ability to play in small areas, pull eyes and bodies toward him, and then expose opposing structures to the weak side of coverage. Despite his diminutive size, he’s also a smarter player off of the puck than he gets credit for and I’ve been struck by how often he’s in the right position above the puck to hold play inside the offensive zone. He’s as fun to watch with the puck on his stick as almost anyone in this draft. When you think you’ve got him trapped, you usually don’t. He’s just a natural creator for himself and others who manufactures offence in a variety of ways. And while his speed in straight lines is a definite barrier, his skating is adjustable in tight spaces. He can also stickhandle himself into trouble at times, but he does such a good job holding onto pucks until his options open up that you’re OK with the odd offensive zone turnover. Despite his size, he also does a good job tracking pucks to the net so that he can be opportunistic.” – Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
“A dynamic player through and through, Cristall adds the extra flash to every play,” Elite Prospects Dir. of North American scouting Mitch Brown wrote in a WHL Stock Watch article on EP Rinkside. “He beats defenders with head fakes, handling skills, and slick edges before cutting inside or finding a teammate burst into the slot. He starts the plays, builds them, and then puts the finishing touches on them. His full offensive impact is among the best in the class, and he continues to grow away from the puck. As such, he’s emerged as a legitimate top-10 prospect and could earn a spot as high as the No. 5 rank in the Elite Prospects’ upcoming rankings.” – Mitch Brown, Elite Prospects 2023 Draft Guide
Another draft profile is down and that means adding another name to the poll. This time, it’s University of Michigan forward Gavin Brindley.
Brindley excels in so many areas, one is bound to hit and make him a valuable NHLer. He has playmaking skill and hands for days but doesn’t default to any particular set-in-stone habit or skill. He cuts to the inside with both fearlessness and calculated timing, setting himself up for prime-ice puck touches regularly. When his skills and habits don’t suffice to make him a positive-impact winger, he can also track back with tremendous backward skating and get involved in defensive plays to cover for an aggressive defender. His stick angling makes him surprisingly good at defending the rush in those circumstances. In Brindley, a team is getting one of the best defensive forwards in the class, with enough skill and projectability to top out as a very solid, very versatile second-line winger. – Dobber Prospects
Who should be No. 20 on the Community Draft Board?