[Sandman]

Cristall doesn’t have good straight line speed, needs plenty of work. I have faith in him though, because he has good agility and edge work in small spaces, plus the puck-protection of a 6’3” power forward. I’ve witnessed him shake off plenty of attackers, manoeuvre through traffic with the puck, and play the cycle. Mangiapane was in a similar boat as Cristall- he was passed over once in the draft because he was small and slow, but managed to bring his speed up to a respectable level. Marty Murray was small and slow, but came up in a time when fixing a player’s skating wasn’t as possible as it is now.

Smaller players usually have a longer runway to the NHL, and that runway gets longer with each deficiency they have- that’s just how it is. If Dylan Strome was 5’10”, he wouldn’t be in the NHL. Cristall has superstar talent though, so he’s already got a leg up.