‘He is as talented a player as we’ve every had’ – GM Bruce Hamilton on Andrew Cristall

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As excited as Hamilton is about the fresh new faces on the roster, he isn’t kidding himself on who is the straw that stirs the Kelowna Rockets drink this season.

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“It will be Andrew Cristall,” Hamilton said, not batting an eye that the 18-year-old is the offensive catalyst. “He is going to be one of the most exciting players in our league. We are going to be very fortunate to have a couple of years, probably this year and next year, watching this guy. He is going to be electric, and he is as talented of a player as we’ve ever had.”

Cristall is at the Washington Capitals training camp after being selected in the second round of the NHL draft. Cristall won’t be in the lineup tonight (104-7 The Lizard has the broadcast at 6:35 pm) when the Rockets host the Portland Winterhawks. Neither will d-man Caden Price, who is at Seattle Kraken camp after being selected in the third round.

“Neither of them is even close to being ready to play in the NHL, let’s be honest here,” Hamilton noted, confident both will be back with his team after playing in pre-season games with the teams that drafted them. “Cristall will score a lot of points and be an exciting player, but he has to become a bigger, stronger, faster guy to play at that level.”

Cristall led the team last season with 95 points and was the easy winner of the MVP award at seasons end.

“He has to play at our end of the rink,” Hamilton explained, wanting a greater commitment to defending from the skilled forward. “He has to learn what kind of game he needs to play at the next level. You need to check and be responsible for your end of the rink. Look at all the top guys, they all come back into their end of the rink and get the puck. You can’t stand at the redline.”

Price was named the teams’ top defenseman last season and could own the trophy over the next two seasons, becoming the first three-time winner of the award with an extremely high ceiling.

“Caden Price is coming off a tough injury,” Hamilton added. “It hampered a bit of his development last year, and he hasn’t been able to do a lot this summer. We hope he has turned the corner a bit.”

One area of strength for the team this season should be in goal. Jari Kykkanen suited up for the Calgary Flames at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, and parlayed that into an invite to the team’s main camp.

“I think our goaltending last year…we never got the traction we needed,” Hamilton offered. “We needed them to win games for us, and that carried on all year from how I am concerned. They have to win some games for us.”

The white elephant in the room is the quality of the three-year-old’s the team will ice this season. Dylan Wightman, Jackson DeSouza, and Turner McMillen hold those three spots, yet is the team looking to upgrade before the October 10^th cutoff?

“They all have to do something with the outcome of the game,” Hamilton said deadpan. “I still think we have a little work to do there. A lot will hinge on what happens to [Gabriel] Szturc, and if Tampa Bay decides it is better for him to return for another year of junior rather than pro. I don’t think he wants to play pro in Europe.”

With the franchise celebrating 29 seasons in the Okanagan, Hamilton is excited about the season, with his team playing 9 of its opening 12 games on home ice.

“We are all tied for first.”