Article: Trust the Wild's Process With Charlie Stramel

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[MNCountryLife]

Patience in building a team isn't easy.

[Jon]

I will die on this hill that MN Wild fans need patience and trust in this guy. The guy lost his father two years ago, Charlie’s biggest supporter. 
 

I was fighting for my life trying to raise some realistic optimism for this guy in other forums. Please give him a chance. What better story to root for than a hometown kid achieving a dream to play for his hometown team? I will echo the article: He is a big kid who looks to fill specific needs in the game that only one player on the roster can currently do reliably—play in front of the net and win faceoffs.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

they already have Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov, who are bona fide superstars.

I appreciate the optimism, but I think it could be a little premature to call zero-time all-star Matt Boldy a bona fide "superstar".

63 points is a really strong season(2 more points than Eriksson-Ek[in 3 more games]), and I imagine he's one of the better young NHL players, just don't think he's quite hit superstar status.

As for the core message, I'm not quite sold on Stramel being a hidden star from this draft at this point, but I'm certainly hopeful that he does become one of the top 20 players from this draft for his NHL career impact. Setting aside his freshman year at college, there definitely are reasons for optimism.

[Beast]

I like the pick the more I read about it. I feel much better than my initial disappointment.  But, a couple of things I’ve been hearing over and over that I disagree with in a big way:

First is that the Wisconsin team is bad, and that’s supposed to be comforting in some way.  He was a part of the team, right?  If it limited his production slightly, OK, I can buy that.  If he found a way to perform despite that huge plus.  But, he was abysmal.  Great players find a way at that level.

Second is that he was on the first power play unit of the national team, four points in 8 games, etc.  I don’t think four points in 8 games is anything to start carving a bust over.  He was on the first power play because he’s twice the size of the other U18 kids - he was a net front screener.  Again, not overly promising for a mid first round pick.

Third is the teams current need.  Who cares if we need a big right shot center right now?  Stramel isn’t filling that need for 3-4-5 years.  By that time, who’s to say we haven’t filled that void in free agency, a trade, with different prospects, etc?

Maybe he’ll turn out to be a good pick.  Nobody knows at this point.   But, to answer your question, the issue taken with the pick (speaking for myself) is that it appeared they didn’t take the best player available.  Maybe he ends up as such, but every reputable hockey talent evaluator on the planet says (except this working for the Wild), as of Wednesday night, said that there were better hockey players that could’ve been taken.

It also doesn’t help your case when the Blackhawks, Blues, and even Avs (I love their draft - unfair for how low they picked) absolutely loaded up on dynamic, high upside talent.  As a Wild fan, seeing that, while hearing we maybe got a checking center for the third with moderate offensive upside who can’t carry the puck - but he’s huge!…..it’s extremely hard to get excited about that.

The thing that does make me excited is his apparent athleticism for his size.  Maybe, as he matures and grows into his body in terms of coordinating, he puts it together.   

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Beast

[Skolwild]

^^^^^
 

nailed it!

[Protec]

We predicted this would happen with the Wild picking out of a second tier group. We looked at the centers and a nice group of them appeared to be going in the top 15. Sure, Moore made it to 19th but the Wild’s need at center meant they were gonna have to pick their favorite guy from the next tier of players that were being projected 20-40 instead of top 20. The Wild got the guy they wanted at center. It’s best player or positional need for the first pick. That’s the two options for drafting unless you’re Paul Fenton. We wanted centers and the Wild loaded up with their top three picks. I’m happy it went like we thought it should. The Wild have a nice group of prospects with a variety of qualities at different stages. That’s gonna be a good thing.

[Protec]

One thing Brackett said of Stramel was his athleticism. Sure Calum Ritchie was a guy, or Perreault who had tons of points but the Wild had to decide what was the best fit. 
 

What surprises me is how hard some people defend Rossi. Also 21st overall, a local kid only got 12 points at Wisconsin so he’s a mid 2nd rounder at best and Greenway 2.0 say others. 🙂

[Tony Abbott]

41 minutes ago, Beast said:

Third is the teams current need.  Who cares if we need a big right shot center right now?  Stramel isn’t filling that need for 3-4-5 years.  By that time, who’s to say we haven’t filled that void in free agency, a trade, with different prospects, etc?

I don't mean to be The Defender of this pick, necessarily, but for this point I would say: that's probably going to be a need for this team still. If you can't have counted on getting that kind of player in your system in 23 years, you probably can't count on landing one in the next three. What free agent is going to fill that void? Or trade? It just happens so little.

Full disclosure, I probably would've preferred to see Musty in that spot, but look at what wingers are going for on the trade market. Feels like if they need one of those, they'd be able to get one at some juncture. 

[Lovehockey]

Couple of things concern me:

1. Wild need a first line center not any center. Stamel per many accounts so far at best would be 3rd line center. So why waste first round pick on this? If u don’t see any quality player when u are selecting trade down.

2. All these conversations on how amazing Wild farm system is so far just a speculation. Even the Wallsted who is most close to be named success still did not play any NHL games. And Rossi so far honestly can be name blast.

so until proven Wild is nowhere close to be what we want them to be and the main reason for this is the Bill Guerin

[Quebec1648]

I am still not a fan of the Stramel pick, but maybe the Wild will get lucky. People are comparing Stramel to Ek, but we need a 1st line center to pair with Kaprizov, and Ek types are not going to do that. Look at all the years where the Wild had Koivu (a 2C level talent) trying to play 1C, it didn't work all that well. I realize that was not possible at pick #21, but there were surely better choices than Stramel. 

Given how difficult it was for the Wild to score goals last year, getting a winger might have been better than Stramel. Would give them some insurance incase Boldy or Kaprizov get injured again. I know I advocated drafting a center, but I didn't see Stramel as the one they would select.

[vonlonster67]

1 hour ago, Beast said:

I like the pick the more I read about it. I feel much better than my initial disappointment.  But, a couple of things I’ve been hearing over and over that I disagree with in a big way:

First is that the Wisconsin team is bad, and that’s supposed to be comforting in some way.  He was a part of the team, right?  If it limited his production slightly, OK, I can buy that.  If he found a way to perform despite that huge plus.  But, he was abysmal.  Great players find a way at that level.

Second is that he was on the first power play unit of the national team, four points in 8 games, etc.  I don’t think four points in 8 games is anything to start carving a bust over.  He was on the first power play because he’s twice the size of the other U18 kids - he was a net front screener.  Again, not overly promising for a mid first round pick.

Third is the teams current need.  Who cares if we need a big right shot center right now?  Stramel isn’t filling that need for 3-4-5 years.  By that time, who’s to say we haven’t filled that void in free agency, a trade, with different prospects, etc?

Maybe he’ll turn out to be a good pick.  Nobody knows at this point.   But, to answer your question, the issue taken with the pick (speaking for myself) is that it appeared they didn’t take the best player available.  Maybe he ends up as such, but every reputable hockey talent evaluator on the planet says (except this working for the Wild), as of Wednesday night, said that there were better hockey players that could’ve been taken.

It also doesn’t help your case when the Blackhawks, Blues, and even Avs (I love their draft - unfair for how low they picked) absolutely loaded up on dynamic, high upside talent.  As a Wild fan, seeing that, while hearing we maybe got a checking center for the third with moderate offensive upside who can’t carry the puck - but he’s huge!…..it’s extremely hard to get excited about that.

The thing that does make me excited is his apparent athleticism for his size.  Maybe, as he matures and grows into his body in terms of coordinating, he puts it together.   

 

Outstanding reply! Beast you should have written this article. I can get behind what your saying. You hit on all the rebuttals and hockey wisdom. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

But, Stramel was obviously dealing with the loss of his father  (3/'21)and entered Wisconsin (9/'22) as a 17 year old turning 18 as the hockey season began. All the prognosticators need to evaluate that into his season and drop off last year no matter what.

[TCMooch]

My initial reaction wasn’t great but after reading articles on him I’m sure he’ll turn out fine.

 

 Still not confident in Minnesota ability to develop players well though.

[Backwoodsbob]

Quote

So why are there so many complaints?

This statement has me sort of confused as I haven't seen any complaints. I actually see more support for the kid as people get more familiar with him.

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

What free agent is going to fill that void? Or trade? It just happens so little.

Leon Draisaitl is a UFA in '25. He would be a perfect fit in between Kaprizov and Boldy. Does he get to UFA status? Who knows, but we would have the money to go get him.

_________________

Here's my issue with this article: The title says "Trust the Process." This, I have to take issue with. So far, "the process" of development has not really produced much beyond bottom 6 guys. Duhaime, Shaw, Dewar are all bottom 6 players that made it through the process. Boldy and Kaprizov were developed at BC and KHL. So, what exactly are we supposed to trust?

This is where I feel we need a little more input from some of our FO guys who had talent. I advocated for Mike Modano to take Stramel under his wing and attend a good share of Stramel's games at UW as he is now part of the Wild family. Losing a dad, especially a very supporting dad, at such a young age can be devastating. There is a need for that type of influence in his life, and, he is playing close. 

I also really like that we picked 3 guys going to college, but are going to be close to the Twin Cities. It will cost them a tank of gas or less to attend development camps, something the BC/BU guys couldn't really do. I think that will help their development, AND, send scouts/FO to keep an eye on them....and scout their teammates/opponents at the same time.

Stramel is a year ahead in development, even though he had a throwaway season at UW. Playing as freshman on the top line was a lot of responsibility for a young kid who was a bit downtrodden. I've said it before, but this kid had to have heavy scouting by this organization prior to last year, and I'd say it's a bit like insider trading (as should all the top MN kids be). I'd be interested in why Stramel picked UW over, say, MSU or UoM? 

I will admit that I was extremely disappointed that we went after Stramel at 21, especially when I was rooting for them to trade up since 12 to go get Moore. Stramel wasn't even on my radar and I read nothing about him pre-draft. But, preseason rankings had him as high as 15 before the year. I'm guessing he could have had a lot more assists had he had a Caufield on his wing. But let's look at things a different way, and how would everyone feel about this scenario:

21- Reilly Heidt

53- Charlie Stramel

64- Rasmus Kumpulainen

I think if you take everything this way, it looks like a pretty sweet 1st 3 picks. I'd have loved to have gotten Ritchie at 21, or trade up and get Moore at 17. But, to do that, you need willing partners, and there simply weren't any in the 1st round of this draft. I'd conclude we did pretty well for ourselves, though. Now, can we change the results of our current process?

[Tony Abbott]

33 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Leon Draisaitl is a UFA in '25. He would be a perfect fit in between Kaprizov and Boldy. Does he get to UFA status? Who knows, but we would have the money to go get him.

Yes, like I said, what big free agent is going to fill the void on the Minnesota Wild?

[mnfaninnc]

7 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Yes, like I said, what big free agent is going to fill the void on the Minnesota Wild?

Come '24, around July 1st, we need to send up smoke signals that a brinks truck has left the building and is heading his way! Perhaps a picture of a smiling Kaprizov would help the recruiting process, or maybe getting to play with the top #97s of all time!

[Tony Abbott]

1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

Come '24, around July 1st, we need to send up smoke signals that a brinks truck has left the building and is heading his way! Perhaps a picture of a smiling Kaprizov would help the recruiting process, or maybe getting to play with the top #97s of all time!

I can just think of like 5 other places I'd rather have $125 million than Minnesota off the top of my head. 

[Pewterschmidt]

17 hours ago, Quebec1648 said:

getting a winger might have been better than Stramel.

Wild centers are Hartman (solid middle sixer), Ek (our most effective center currently but a middle sixer on a deep run playoff team), Fred (ham n egger. Shootout savant) and Sam ‘the stache’ Steel (cut) we need to take as many at bats for a center increasing the odds we pull our Bergeron out of the proverbial draft hat.  Bracket avoids being called an ass-hat drafting centers 1-2-3.   

[Tony Abbott]

Though if anyone wants to give me $125 million, I'll stay here in Minnesota if that's what you want.