The Capitals have a plan in place to get the most out of Cristall, who inked his entry-level deal on Thursday.

ARLINGTON, V.A. -- The Washington Capitals felt they got a steal in Andrew Cristall when he dropped to No. 40, and after an impressive development camp, they're even more sold as they signed him to an entry-level contract.

Cristall's three-year deal carries an AAV of $810,000 at the NHL level and $82,500 at the AHL level.

"You want to go to a team that wants to have you and thinks you can help the organization... I couldn't be happier," Cristall said at camp this week.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound forward dazzled with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets this season, leading his team with 39 goals and 56 assists for 95 points in just 54 games. He stole the highlight reels each night as well with his quick hands, crafty playmaking ability and high hockey IQ that allowed him to make picture-perfect passes while scoring some nice goals of his own to boot.

"Everybody here wants to make each other better," Cristall added. "It's been really high tempo and fast-paced."

Cristall carried that play over into development camp, showcasing his talent while making use of his stickhandling ability and scoring prowess. He had some impressive goals and plays over the five days he spent at MedStar Capitals Iceplex while also showing room for improvement when it comes to skating and adding some strength.

"I thought he had a good camp... you could see his hands and you can see a sense that he needs to get a little bit stronger for sure," assistant general manager Ross Mahoney said.

Now that he put pen to paper, Washington has a plan in place to get Cristall to where he needs to be in order to carry that star power over to the pros, and the first step is to make his legs stronger.

"He's gonna leave here talking with the strength coaches. They're gonna give him a plan to work off the ice to improve his leg strength, which will probably help him with his overall speed," Mahoney said.

Still, Mahoney noted that there's plenty of time to work with, and they already like what they see from the 18-year-old.

"He's got really good edges, he can really turn and change directions really quickly, and he's got a really good change of pace; it's just a matter of that top-end speed," Mahoney said. "But he's very young, too. Like I said, building that leg strength will help him become even faster, but you can see how agile he was... in addition to the hands and the sense."