If you would’ve said before the season started last year that the Wild would’ve picked Charlie Stramel with pick No. 21, I think many people would’ve been excited.

But after his five-goal and 12-point season at Wisconsin during his freshman year, many Wild fans were upset with the selection of Stramel at pick No. 21, considering Gabe Perreault, who broke Auston Matthews’ single-season point record at the NTDP with 132 points, was still available.

Wild fans are known to be hard on moves that are made and how certain players play the game, but it is just to show how strongly passionate they are.

Stramel is a Minnesota native himself and knows how some fans reacted to the Wild drafting him in the first round.

“It’s always good to have that stuff written about you, good or bad honestly,” Stramel said after day one of Wild Development camp. “I think at the end of the day, you try to stay out of that stuff and focus on hockey and what you’re good at.”

Stramel continued: "It’s cool but then again, there are also people who aren’t the biggest fans of you. I think at the end of the day, just take everything with a grain of salt and not look too far into it."

Although Wild fans may be quick to judge Stramel, many don’t understand that he is ahead of the curve. Stramel has an October birthday which means he was playing college hockey in many other 18-year-olds’ senior year of high school.

Believe it or not but Stramel still could grow a bit despite his 6-foot-3 and 215-pound frame. Not only could he grow physically but his game will certainly grow, especially under a whole new coaching staff in Wisconsin, plus the Wild’s development staff.

Wisconsin’s coaching overhaul

After the Badgers finished the season 13-23-0 and 6-18-0 in the Big Ten, the director of Wisconsin Athletics let go of the whole coaching staff starting with Tony Granato, who had been with the team since 2016.

The Badgers went out and pulled Mike Hastings and the rest of his staff from the Minnesota State Mavericks after their season ended in the NCAA tournament.

Hastings, a 1993 St. Cloud graduate, has an incredible resume and has directed his teams to winning seasons in all 25 years he has served as a head coach.

Hastings coached in the last 11 years at Minnesota State, where he guided the Mavericks to eight NCAA tournament appearances, including five straight since 2019, two straight Frozen Four appearances (2021, 2022), and the NCAA title game in 2022.

“It’s been good so far,” Stramel said about his new coach Mike Hastings. “He’s been awesome. We’ve had meetings with him personally, and it’s been great so far. You can see the culture changing there, and I’m pumped for next season.”

With Hastings resume of success and the players he has helped develop into NHL players, plus the development staff of the Wild, I think we will see a big jump from Stramel in terms of progress in his second season.

Even the recent 30-goal scorer Matt Boldy struggled a bit in his first season of college hockey when he scored nine goals in 34 games, which was after the Wild drafted him, the opposite of Stramel.

But Stramel knows that he struggled personally last year like the team, but he’s eager to prove many people wrong. He said accountability is something that Hastings has been trying to hammer away at his new team in Wisconsin.

“Every staff and coach has their own style. I think Hastings is an honest guy who has high expectations for everybody. He expects you to give it your all at the end of the day,” Stramel said. “I think that accountability part he has been very up-front and honest about. Everyone brings their own aspect to the team but whatever you bring you better bring it as much as you can.”

What aspect does Stramel bring?

He plays a strong power forward type of game. He may not score 30 goals, but he is going to power his way to the net and create offense along with havoc.

He will win you puck battles along the wall and set up offense in a different way. But that isn’t to say he doesn’t have any skill because he has shown before he has that type of game in his toolbox.

But he has also spent his three days in development camp working on his stride and his play along the boards, or what he likes to call rim pucks.

Even watching him play in a mini 3-on-3 scrimmage between the two bluelines, Stramel showed it isn’t easy for others to knock the puck off his stick. He also showed his creativity when given the chance to play with the Wild’s 19th-overall pick in the 2022 draft, Liam Ohgren.

Stramel will now head to Wisconsin where he will train with his teammates for five to six weeks. He will then head back to Minnesota in August and work out with the Wild and their staff before heading back to Wisconsin to begin his sophomore season.

Part of the training he will be doing in Wisconsin will be to look back at his play individually and assess what needs to change to have a better season.

“I think dissecting the season personally and learning how I can have a lot better of a season next year,” Stramel said on how he can learn from his struggles during his freshman season. “I think we have a lot better tools in place overall but I do think learning, rewatching games, and figuring out what I need to take a whole nother step in for my sophomore year.”

The offense will come for Stramel, but his focus is becoming a more complete player and mastering what he believes is his game which is playing a power-forward role.

With a new coaching staff in Wisconsin and now the Wild helping him develop, fans should feel much more at ease along with excitement for what Stramel has in store for his sophomore season this fall.