ST. PAUL, Minn. — Charlie Stramel has blocked so many shots in his life, just imagine his disappointment March 28 when X-rays revealed that an innocuous one from the point cracked his ankle in a second-round meeting against his former school, now-Frozen Four-bound Wisconsin.
“Just hit me in a bad spot,” Stramel said.
With one shot block early in the first period of the regional final, one of Michigan State’s best players’ NCAA championship dreams ended. So did his college career and plans of making his NHL debut in one of the Minnesota Wild’s final five regular-season games.
“I think initially kind of just in shock that it happened at that time,” Stramel said during a Zoom with reporters Tuesday afternoon after signing his entry-level contract with his home-state Wild the night before. “And right there, I was just trying to root for the guys, hoping that they could get it done.
“But I did kind of notice when we got the X-rays back that it’s gonna be a little bit different route than I expected, but that’s part of the game. Things happen in hockey, and you’ve got to be prepared for that. So right now, just rehabbing and working on getting back healthy.”
Make no mistake, Stramel’s plans have changed dramatically.
The Wild and the 2023 first-rounder’s representatives had agreed to a three-year contract that would have seen him burn the first year of the deal and debut this regular season after his college career ended.
In fact, the Wild were still willing to burn the first year of the deal if his recovery had timed up with them still being in the playoffs. But after Michigan State’s doctor consulted with the Wild’s ankle specialist, it was determined he’d need six to eight weeks to recover, making a playoff return unlikely.
There are pros and cons to burning a year or not, and at the end of the day, his agents also decided it would benefit Stramel financially to have his contract start in 2026-27. That’s because next year’s contract falls under the new collective bargaining agreement while this year’s would have fallen under the expiring one.
So Stramel’s contract is now for three years at $3.225 million as opposed to $2.85 million with escalating salaries each year and larger and escalating signing bonuses each year ($322,500 in total versus $285,000 in total).
Stramel attended a Wild game on Jan. 22 — a 4-3 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings that ended with a Kirill Kaprizov winner. Before that game, he sat down with Wild coach John Hynes.
“It’s disappointing, I think, for him and for us he got injured at the end, but I’m glad that we were able to sign him and that he’s now a Minnesota Wild and hopefully his recovery goes well and we’ll see him soon,” Hynes said Tuesday.
Stramel, 21, has turned into an impressive, promising and important prospect for a Wild team that’s eternally been seeking to improve center depth. The biggest reason is his size — he’s 6-foot-3, can skate and is a right shot who won the second-most faceoffs in college hockey.
“I had a few tough years at Wisconsin, hockey-wise, but I think I learned a lot about myself, and making that move to Michigan State, I think, was crucial for me in my career,” Stramel said. “How that staff really helped develop me and find my game again, the culture they have here, that competitive-first mindset and all that this school has brought me, it’s been unreal, and they really helped me find my game and develop me not just as a player but a person as well.”
There’s no doubt his development blossomed after transferring to Michigan State after two tough seasons at Wisconsin and playing for a coach he had familiarity with from the U.S. National Team Development Program, Adam Nightingale.
“I think just finding my true identity as a power forward, a 200-foot center that can play up and down the ice and really just mature my game,” he said. “I feel like I got faster, got bigger, got stronger.
“Learned a lot about myself, and I’m pumped to make the jump to the pro level here in the coming year.”
Stramel could have become an unrestricted free agent Aug. 15 if he hadn’t signed with the team. That’s what 2018 third-round pick Jack McBain threatened to do in 2022, though the Wild at least parlayed McBain into a second-round pick in a trade with Arizona.
Stramel told The Athletic in January, though, that he planned to sign with the Wild after his college career — not test free agency. He stuck with that decision and didn’t change his mind after his name was in trade rumors before the March 6 trade deadline — and knowing it surely will be again this offseason.
If he signed elsewhere, he would have picked his landing spot. If he’s traded, he won’t have that chance.
Now, make no mistake, the Wild don’t want to trade him and aren’t looking to. But if they go big-game hunting this offseason for a star like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Larkin or Robert Thomas, the reality is that Stramel’s their best non-NHL prospect, so his name will naturally come up.
“End of the day, when the rumors were going on around the deadline, I can’t really control any of that,” Stramel said. “At that point in time, I was just focused on continuing to try and play great hockey and help my team get to a national championship.
“Obviously, the rumors happen. They happen all the time. But that’s a part of the business. … So I’m just kind of staying in my lane right now, trying to do what I can to rehab and be ready to go for training camp.”
The Rosemount, Minn., native, whose sister, Sophie, plays hockey at Minnesota State, just hopes that training camp comes here in Minnesota.
“Growing up a fan my whole life, and then being able to get drafted to them and now signed to them, it’s just unbelievable,” he said. “It was truly a dream come true. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to hopefully throw the jersey on here.”
In the meantime, Stramel will stay in East Lansing for the next three weeks as he completes his degree in communications. Then, he’ll return home to Minnesota to continue his rehab and train at the Wild’s practice facility. He’s hoping the Wild will still be alive in the postseason so he can root on his favorite team as a kid in the playoffs and envision himself on the same sheet of ice at Grand Casino Arena in the near future.
“I’m pumped,” the former fan of Wild players Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter said. “A goal of mine is to crack the roster. But at the end of the day, I’ve just got to go out there and play my game and do whatever I can to help the organization win games. So that’s my goal.”