Article: Charlie Stramel Is Becoming the Center the Wild Hoped For

[MrCheatachu]

5 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

That's very interesting, but quite possibly overstated due to just one series being discussed. He might have looked solid in those games, but Martone(#6 overall) is a much better prospect than Stramel, and is 4 goals ahead of everyone else on the team.

Stramel has a solid chance to develop into a Nico Sturm type of player if he can improve his faceoffs, but I wouldn't bet on a high end skill player.

Nico Sturm posted 1.15 points per game in his 3rd season at Clarkson before going pro, and this is Stramel's 4th season. He wasn't all that close to finishing above a point per game prior to this year(while Sturm was close in year 2) and he has a lot of talent around him at Michigan State, with Martone and Ryker Lee(26th pick in 1st round of 2025), as well as a couple of 2nd round defensemen and a couple later round defensemen.

The team success is also aided by a top goalie. Stamel has had a solid start to the season, but we'll see how things play out. Michigan(15-3, while averaging just 2 goals against per game) will be a big test this weekend. Michigan has a very promising top line C in Michael Hage(1.44 PPG). If Stramel can shut him down, that could be a nice sign.

 

I have watched approximately zero college hockey this year (or prior years) so I've relied on what I read about the dude.  I too was luke warm on his performance last season, seeing as he centered Isaac Howard who went on to win the Hobey Baker.  If you got a winger dumping points in the net, you're stats are going to get inflated (cough, ryan hartman centering Kaprizov).

I also know, that while Pronman is a well known name in hockey prospects, there's a reason some refer to him as 'Con'-man as he's known for some 'interesting' takes on players/prospects.

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 minutes ago, MrCheatachu said:

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

Agreed. I haven't watched him either. He has become decent on faceoffs for the collegiate level, leading his team in total faceoff wins, but I don't think winning 52.7% against that level will immediate translate to high end success in the pro leagues.

He could move ahead of Bankier in the order of reaching the NHL, and possibly develop to become a 3rd line C at the NHL level, but I wouldn't expect substantial NHL point production, and definitely not right away.

[Patrick]

23 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Ek 6' 2'' ... Stramel 6' 3'' ... Nico Sturm 6' 3'' ... Danila Yurov  6' 1''

That is good size at the center position.  If Jiricek 6'4'' and Stramel can make the transition the Wild may slide from 15th in average height into the top 10 in size.  This team is bigger than it was a few years ago.

 

They will jump 10 spots in the size rankings when Zuccarello retires...and be a worse team.  Food for thought.

[MNCountryLife]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

They will jump 10 spots in the size rankings when Zuccarello retires...and be a worse team.  Food for thought.

No doubt... Zuc is a good player.   But why would we be worse?  I get what you are trying to say..  Players skill matters more than a players size... and you are not wrong.

However, the size of a player does matter.  It is not insignificant. Two players of equal skill and one is 5'8'' and the other 6'2'' and I am choosing the 6'2''.

The same is going to happen with Spurgeon.  The guy is fantastic and I am a big Spurgeon fan.  But eventually we will trade him or he will retire and his salary will be used to fill in that gap.  

How those gaps get filled by BG will determine if we are better or worse.

[Patrick]

9 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

No doubt... Zuc is a good player.   But why would we be worse?  I get what you are trying to say..  Players skill matters more than a players size... and you are not wrong.

However, the size of a player does matter.  It is not insignificant. Two players of equal skill and one is 5'8'' and the other 6'2'' and I am choosing the 6'2''.

The same is going to happen with Spurgeon.  The guy is fantastic and I am a big Spurgeon fan.  But eventually we will trade him or he will retire and his salary will be used to fill in that gap.  

How those gaps get filled by BG will determine if we are better or worse.

It all boils down to productivity. Whether a player is big, fast, skilled or smart to achieve the production is irrelevant. 

[raithis]

On 12/2/2025 at 10:50 AM, MrCheatachu said:

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

I think too much is made of the time at Wisconsin.

Keep in mind that Stramel was also dealing with his father's unexpected death during that time.  He was a kid freshly away from home who had that dropped on him, and then as he was trying to pick up the pieces, a new coach comes in and brings along with him a lot of his former players from Mankato.  For a kid who was reeling from that situation, that probably just made it harder to get back to where he was and delayed his development by 1-1.5yrs because of it.

Going to Michigan State to play for a former coach who believed in him has helped get him back on track.  It may have helped him in other ways if he saw Nightingale as a bit of a father figure of sorts too (I don't know if he did/does see him that way, but I recall the main reason he chose MSU was specifically because Nightingale was there).

[raithis]

On 12/2/2025 at 10:50 AM, MrCheatachu said:

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

I think too much is made of the time at Wisconsin.

Keep in mind that Stramel was also dealing with his father's unexpected death during that time.  He was a kid freshly away from home who had that dropped on him, and then as he was trying to pick up the pieces, a new coach comes in and brings along with him a lot of his former players from Mankato.  For a kid who was reeling from that situation, that probably just made it harder to get back to where he was and delayed his development by 1-1.5yrs because of it.

Going to Michigan State to play for a former coach who believed in him has helped get him back on track.  It may have helped him in other ways if he saw Nightingale as a bit of a father figure of sorts too (I don't know if he did/does see him that way, but I recall the main reason he chose MSU was specifically because Nightingale was there).

[raithis]

On 12/2/2025 at 10:50 AM, MrCheatachu said:

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

I think too much is made of the time at Wisconsin.

Keep in mind that Stramel was also dealing with his father's unexpected death during that time.  He was a kid freshly away from home who had that dropped on him, and then as he was trying to pick up the pieces, a new coach comes in and brings along with him a lot of his former players from Mankato.  For a kid who was reeling from that situation, that probably just made it harder to get back to where he was and delayed his development by 1-1.5yrs because of it.

Going to Michigan State to play for a former coach who believed in him has helped get him back on track.  It may have helped him in other ways if he saw Nightingale as a bit of a father figure of sorts too (I don't know if he did/does see him that way, but I recall the main reason he chose MSU was specifically because Nightingale was there).

[raithis]

On 12/2/2025 at 10:50 AM, MrCheatachu said:

StrayDawg is going to have to do a lot to shake off those Wisconsin years, where he had a couple of stinker seasons playing for two different coaches...

I think too much is made of the time at Wisconsin.

Keep in mind that Stramel was also dealing with his father's unexpected death during that time.  He was a kid freshly away from home who had that dropped on him, and then as he was trying to pick up the pieces, a new coach comes in and brings along with him a lot of his former players from Mankato.  For a kid who was reeling from that situation, that probably just made it harder to get back to where he was and delayed his development by 1-1.5yrs because of it.

Going to Michigan State to play for a former coach who believed in him has helped get him back on track.  It may have helped him in other ways if he saw Nightingale as a bit of a father figure of sorts too (I don't know if he did/does see him that way, but I recall the main reason he chose MSU was specifically because Nightingale was there).

[raithis]

Sorry for the multiple posts.  The site wasn't responding and so I thought the comment wasn't being submitted.

[MrCheatachu]

44 minutes ago, raithis said:

I think too much is made of the time at Wisconsin.

Keep in mind that Stramel was also dealing with his father's unexpected death during that time.  He was a kid freshly away from home who had that dropped on him, and then as he was trying to pick up the pieces, a new coach comes in and brings along with him a lot of his former players from Mankato.  For a kid who was reeling from that situation, that probably just made it harder to get back to where he was and delayed his development by 1-1.5yrs because of it.

Going to Michigan State to play for a former coach who believed in him has helped get him back on track.  It may have helped him in other ways if he saw Nightingale as a bit of a father figure of sorts too (I don't know if he did/does see him that way, but I recall the main reason he chose MSU was specifically because Nightingale was there).

Yeah, I get it.  A 19 year old kid who just lost his father unexpectedly moving away from home as a first round draft pick to Madison there's a lot of moving parts there that could impact a players development.  I believe he also dealt with an injury in there too...

But, he struggled to make an impact his freshman year under Granato and regressed even further to the point he was playing 4th line wing on a clunker of a team under Hastings.

Ideally, when you think of first round talent you either think the guy's good enough the coach builds around the skills, or the guy's good enough he can figure out how to be successful regardless of what the coach is asking him to do.  Coaches need to win games, this isn't Squirts...they'll put the guy out there that gives them the best shot of winning and two different coaches looked at Stramel and said 'nah dawg'.

You only get so many times to say 'its you, not me' before people start questioning what's wrong with you...

Having 3 different college coaches in 3 years, and then only being successful when you get to center the eventual Hobey Baker winner (Isaac Howard) doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies, and should at least raise an eyebrow.  I'm glad to be hearing reports this season about his improvement, and I'm glad to see it showing up on the scoresheet but it's going to take a helluva lot more than 20 games on a top ranked program to make me forget about his first two years at UW.

[Will D. Ness]

2 hours ago, raithis said:

Sorry for the multiple posts.  The site wasn't responding and so I thought the comment wasn't being submitted.

4 might be the record?