The Minnesota Wild had one first-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. On Wednesday night in Nashville, at Bridgestone Arena, Minnesota selected Wisconsin Badgers forward Charlie Stramel.
It was very possible that he was going to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, but mock drafts had him going a bit later in the first round.
Minnesota Wild Draft Wisconsin Badgers Charlie Stramel
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin has had an excellent track record of taking very good players in the first round of drafts over the past several years. Charlie Stramel will probably not contribute for the Wild for at least another three to four years, but this player is a power forward who loves to play in front of the net.
You need those kinds of players in order to win Stanley Cups at the NHL level. Stramel is 6’3″ and weighs 212 lbs. It makes sense that the Minnesota Wild drafted this player because he is from Saint Paul, Minn. It is the same town where the Minnesota Wild play their NHL games in.
Finding talent within your own backyard must be pretty nice for an NHL organization. In 33 games played last season with the Wisconsin Badgers in the BIG10 Conference, he scored five goals and recorded seven assists. His plus/minus rating was -10.
Charlie Stramel will need to develop some more at the collegiate level in 2023-2024. He also appeared in seven games this past year for the U.S. National Team at World Juniors. He didn’t score a goal in those games, but Stramel did record three assists.
Charlie Stramel doesn’t have much offensive upside with the Minnesota Wild, but he checks some of the other boxes, like forechecking well and being physical. Stramel will look to improve his offensive numbers in his second collegiate season with the University of Wisconsin. At some point, he will sign an entry-level deal with the Minnesota Wild and maybe join the AHL Affiliate, the Iowa Wild, before going to the NHL.
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