Wild prospect Charlie Stramel has entered the College Hockey Transfer Portal.
Charlie Stramel has had a tough season this year. He was drafted in the first round last year for the Wild after playing pretty much his whole freshman season as a top-six center.
He struggled to score in his freshman season but he did a lot of other things right. He used his big 6-foot-3 frame to power his way past opponents and create scoring chances. Stramel finished his freshman season with five goals and 12 points in 33 games.
Wisconsin decided to move on from their coaching staff and elected to bring in Mike Hastings who was coaching for the Minnesota State Mavericks.
During Wild Development camp Stramel said he was eager to improve his game under the new coaching staff in Wisconsin.
Hastings brought over his whole staff but he also got some players to transfer from the Mavericks to the Badgers.
In the first game of the year, Stramel lineup up as the Badgers third line center behind David Silye and Christian Fitzgerald. Silye is a senior and Fitzgerald is a sophomore, both of which are undrafted.
The Minnesota native played in the first four games of the year, all as the team's third-line center, and had zero goals and zero points on nine total shots. He then missed a couple of weeks with an injury and once he came back Stramel played farther down the lineup.
After continuing to not put up points, Stramel fell to the fourth line but not as a center, which the Wild drafted him to be, but as the right wing.
Wisconsin continued to play good hockey and Stramel never played center after that. He would play as the Badgers' third-line right winger but he stayed in the bottom six for the whole season after essentially staying in the top six as a freshman for the whole season.
In 34 games this season, Stramel had only three goals and eight points. He doesn't need to pick up a ton of points to become a good bottom-six NHL player with the Wild but he does need to show that he can play that style of hockey.
Even though he had only five goals and 11 points in his freshman season, Stramel was a force physically to play against. He would get in your face, stir things up, and play a hard and physical game along the boards and through the middle of the ice which is what many bottom-six NHL players do.
But in his sophomore season, he has allowed that part of his game to slip as well.
Both Stramel and the Wild hope he can find his game again and maybe a new team and fresh start could be what he needs. It doesn't make it any easier seeing the guy drafted two picks after he torched the NCAA in his freshman season with 18 goals and 57 points in 34 games. But Gabe Perreault is a winger and not a center, although Stramel hasn't consistently played center since about October.
Assuming the Minnesota native wants to play closer to home, I wonder about Mankato. Stramel's sister Sophia is committed to Mankato for hockey so it would make sense if he goes there. But maybe the Gophers or St. Cloud could work. Being a bit closer to home would likely help the Wild prospect along with his development especially if he played for the Gophers.
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