NASHVILLE – Charlie Strammell went to a few wild games every year growing up in Rosemount, considered Zach Parise his favorite player and even had some Wild jerseys.
But the one he received on Wednesday night was different.
That was his name on the back.
The Wild drafted Stramel 21st overall in the NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, making him the third Minnesotan to take the team in the first round.
Rounds 2-7 are Thursdays. Wild currently has five other draft picks, starting with numbers 53 and 64 in the second round.
“He’s obviously elated,” Stramell said. “There is no better feeling than being picked up by my hometown team. I always hoped the wild would pick me up. It was always in the back of my head.
“Seeing this dream come true is definitely a blessing.”
Stramel, 18, is a 200-foot power forward, an agile playmaker with an eye for offense and defense.
The 6-foot-3, 222-pound center is coming off his freshman season at Wisconsin scoring five goals and seven assists in 33 games after a stint with the United States National Team Development Program. During his final season with the under-18 team, Stramel scored 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 26 games.
“I’ve matured a lot as a person but as a player,” said Stramel, who was ranked 30th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. “I think as a player I learned which player I’m going to be next. You have to be smart. You have to have puck management. You can’t do anything too crazy.”
Earlier in the evening, the draft kicked off as expected: Chicago selected generational talent Conor Bedard first overall, finalizing a selection that had been years in the making since the prolific Canadian scorer was hype throughout his rookie and international career.
But then the text flipped.
Sweden’s Leo Carlsson was second to Anaheim, ahead of Michigan’s Hobey Baker’s Adam Fantelli, who was considered by many to be the second-best prospect behind Bedard. However, Fantilli did not have to wait long to make it up the draft stage. Columbus commissioned him a third.
Will Smith (San Jose) and David Reinbacher (Montreal) round out the top five in that order.
The Raiders continued to lead the first round, including Mounds View’s Oliver Moore who went to Chicago in the 19th, and that was the position the Wild had when they were on the clock.
Before joining the NTDP, Stramel skated at Rosemount High.
His sister, Sophie, was Rosemount’s sophomore last season on the hockey team — scoring a double-overtime goal in their second final game to help them to the state championship — while his mother, Gretchen, coached Rosemount’s girls’ soccer team to the Class AA championship before retirement.
Stramel acknowledged that having the Wild draft him could mean extra pressure on him, “but at the end of the day, I think that’s a blessing.” It’s the first Minnesotan team the Wild has had in the first round since Eden Prairie’s Nick Leddy finished 16th in 2009. Savage’s AJ Thelen was named the 12th overall in 2004.
When he returns to Wisconsin next season, Stramel is looking to incorporate more physical fitness into his play next season when he returns to Wisconsin.
“I think I moved away a little bit from that last year,” he said. “That’s a big focus for me to get back into people’s grills, start things up, and the production side as well.”
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