ST. PAUL, Minn. — Charlie Stramel is a pretty smart guy.And he’s a hockey fan.So it would be naive to think that the touted Minnesota Wild prospect hasn’t noticed his name was attached to trade rumors since before the trade deadline and especially in the past few weeks, with his hometown team chasing a big fish in Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin.“It’s going to be there,” he said. “You’re going to see it even when you don’t want to.”Winners and losers from the 2026 NHL DraftScott WheelerThat being said, Stramel, 21, isn’t fretting it.“I really try not to pay too much attention to it,” Stramel said Monday, the first day of the Wild’s development camp. “It’s social media. It’s going to be positive. It’s going to be negative. For me, it’s controlling the controllable.”For Stramel, that’s continuing his rehab from a broken ankle that ended his career at Michigan State during the NCAA regional final in late March. Stramel has been on the ice skating and said he’s a few weeks from being 100 percent. He’s a full go in the weight room, too.The fact that coach John Hynes talked about Stramel as a candidate for the roster in the fall was encouraging, though he’s going to have to show he’s ready. And that’s Stramel’s focus as the 2023 first-round pick works out in the Twin Cities all summer.“Just leaving it all out there,” said Stramel, who was taken 21st in the 2023 NHL Draft. “Playing to my identity. My goal is to make the team and believe that I can play my way throughout the full camp. I’m confident I can. Just go in there and prove I’m worth it, I’m worth making the team and I’m able to bring something that can help them win. We’ll see what happens.”It’s tough for Stramel, knowing he would have likely played in NHL games at the end of the season had he not gotten hurt in the NCAA Tournament. There was an opportunity, not only after the Wild clinched, but with Joel Eriksson Ek’s injury leaving the team thin in the middle in the playoffs. But Stramel got unlucky with the injury on his fourth shift of the game against Wisconsin, blocking a shot.“Obviously frustrating, especially at the end of the year, playoff time,” Stramel said. “You can’t do too much about it. I think, for me, it was going to happen. It’s part of the game.”There was a question of whether Stramel would decide to sign with the Wild, especially considering how his name was out there in trade rumors during the trade deadline, and the senior had a chance to be an unrestricted free agent in August had he played it out.But Stramel, a Rosemount, Minn. native, didn’t waver.“I think it was pretty easy,” Stramel said. “I’ve been a fan for my whole life. It’s the hometown team. Billy (Wild general manager Bill Guerin) and the entire organization, they’ve been so great to me over the years, even in the down times where I wasn’t playing my best hockey. They stuck with me the whole way. It means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to hopefully throwing on the sweater.”The perception about Stramel has changed in just a few years. He struggled in his first couple of seasons at the University of Wisconsin, but revived his career after transferring to Michigan State and reuniting with his former U.S. NTDP coach, Adam Nightingale. Stramel found his confidence, his swagger, his identity, and he turned into a top-line, all-situations type player.“My confidence got better,” Stramel said. “When I was struggling early on, I didn’t have a lot of confidence. I wasn’t playing good hockey. Getting to Michigan State and continuing to evolve from there helped a ton. Growing that confidence over and over the past two years, it’s helped me become more confident that I can make an impact on an NHL team.”True, Stramel played with Hobey Baker winner Isaac Howard as a junior and top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone as a senior. But if you ask Nightingale, Stramel also played a big role in his big-name linemates’ progression. It was not one person or another riding the coattails. Stramel did learn a lot from each, though, from Howard’s pure goal scoring to Martone’s vision on the ice.Ben Dexheimer, Stramel’s former roommate and teammate at Wisconsin, said they all saw this type of ability in Stramel.“Everyone knew he had the tools. It was just a matter of how he figured out how to use them,” said Dexheimer, the Wisconsin captain who signed with the Wild as a free agent. “He had unbelievable junior and senior years.“He’s ready. He’s a confident kid. I’ve known him for quite some time now. He doesn’t get too high or too low. He stays even-keeled. That’s what you can ask for from a first-rounder. The bright lights don’t bother him. Even if he’s struggling a little, it won’t get to him.”Stramel said a key for him is staying true to his identity.He’s modeled his game after certain NHL forwards. He appreciates Alex Tuch, even though the Sabres star isn’t a center. “I like the mentality of the Tkachuks,” Stramel said. “How they’re not afraid to stir the pot.”Stramel also took note during the Wild playoffs as Michael McCarron, another big power-forward center, elevated his game, scoring key goals and elevating to the second line for Game 5 against the Avalanche.“I say watching hockey, watching the playoffs, especially the real hard hockey,” Stramel said. “Seeing how those guys step up in the moment and perform in those moments is something I learned a lot from.”Stramel plans to spend the summer in Minnesota training and likes the idea of working out with the NHLers at TRIA Rink. Whatever happens on the trade market remains to be seen, but considering Stramel’s path, he’s not going to get rattled by much.“I’ve learned a lot throughout my career, struggling early on in college,” he said. “I’m feeling a lot better. It’s never a straight line. I think that’ll help me a ton when it comes to stepping to the pro level. Not every day is your day. Not every night is your night. But you’ve got to bounce back, and you’ve got to have confidence and believe that you belong there and you can help the team win.”