Welcome back from paternity leave, Joe.
"Stramel isn’t expected to be a major point producer in the NHL. He’s likely not going to be a No. 1 center. But there’s a lot of value in a middle-six center who can play a power forward’s game, be part of both special teams and win faceoffs. And that’s what Stramel can do."
Stramel doing Ek things?
9 comments
Stramel doing Ek things? – if he can elevate to Eks level it is an insanely huge win for the wild. I’d be happy if he was a poor man’s Ek at his best. He still has time to keep growing and game and improving though. Sounds like a good kid, I hope he proves a lot of people wrong and has a great career.
From what I have seen clips of and read articles on, while Stramel has size he isn’t really physical or use his size for his advantage.
After reading that I think it’s fair to assume that Stramel is not a big fan of Hastings.
I’m glad he’s showing the type of player he can be this year though. He has a pretty unique set of tools and people have been way too quick to bash this pick.
You really should let prospects get to 23-24 or a good 2-3 years in the system/NHL before deciding what you have with people. There are exceptions, but people develop at different rates, and unless they just plain aren’t NHL quality, you don’t cut bait or label them “bust” unless it is obvious.
I thought at the time that they should have taken Gabe or Calum Ritchie. That being said, Stramel fits a physical need that this team has going forward, especially when Foligno retires. And hopefully his faceoff numbers translate too. Rossi’s tying goal last game doesn’t happen if Foligno isn’t clogging the crease, and same with his PP goal a few weeks ago when Moose was screening the goalie. Stramel actually plays tough (unlike some big guys like Bjugstad), and is excellent in front of the net.
Imagine having Yurov-Rossi-Ek-Stramel down the middle in a few years. Sounds good to me.
Stramel has only played 14 games of college hockey. Riding the bench the last 2 years needs to get thrown out.
IMO, he needs to play two seasons at MSU. Happy for him that he is playing well. And like every draft pick that is not the top 3 picks it is a coin flip on them making an impact in the NHL.
Stramel was comp’d to Foligno around the draft. I wouldn’t jump to EEK comparisons yet.
I’ve been saying it, but you can’t rule out how much losing his dad at around 18 impacted him on top of being in a spot sucking out his confidence. I lost my mom at 20, and there was 2 really brutal year. A fresh start is exactly what he needed with someone who had confidence in him.