Wild draft Rosemount’s Stramel in 1st round, Mounds View’s Moore taken by Chicago

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Charlie Stramel poses with Minnesota Wild officials after being picked by the team during the first round of the NHL hockey draft Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

If he ends up playing for the team that drafted him, Rosemount-native Charlie Stramel’s family will only need to make a 19-mile drive up I-35E to watch him play.

The Wild selected the current Wisconsin Badger and former Rosemount standout with the 21st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Stramel is a 6’3″ center who is a rising sophomore at Wisconsin. He also played on the U.S. team that won bronze at last winter’s World Junior Championships.

He was selected two picks after the Chicago Blackhawks made Mounds View-native Oliver Moore the first Minnesotan off the board. The future Gopher and former Totino-Grace standout was the 19th overall pick.

Moore joins the Blackhawks draft class that also includes #1-overall pick Connor Bedard. Regarded as a generational prospect, Bedard had been penciled in as the top pick in this year’s draft for years.

The following is courtesy of the Minnesota Wild on their selection of Rosemount’s Charlie Stramel in the first round of the NHL Draft:

The Minnesota Wild selected center Charlie Stramel with the 21st overall selection in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft tonight.

Stramel, 18 (10/15/04), played his first season of collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin last season, totaling 12 points (5-7=12) in 33 games and 59 penalty minutes (PIM), tied for seventh-most on the team. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Rosemount, Minnesota, also won a bronze medal with Team USA in the World Junior Championship, tallying three points (0-3=3) in seven games. He won a silver medal with Team USA at the 2022 Under-18 World Junior Championship, recording five points (2-3=5) in six games. Stramel recorded 37 points (17-20=37) and 60 PIM in a total of 42 games with the United States National Team Development Program in 2021-22. He tallied four points (2-2=4) in five games for Team USA at the 2021 World Junior Under-18 Championship. Stramel played for Rosemount High School as a freshman in 2019-20 before joining the United States National Team Development Program for the 2020-21 season.

He becomes the 16th Minnesota native to be selected by the Wild in the NHL Draft, the first since Jack Peart in 2021 (Grand Rapids).

“Charlie is a heavy, strong skating, physical two-way center,” said Judd Brackett, Minnesota Wild Director of Amateur Scouting. “We are very excited to add him to our organization.”

Minnesota currently owns five selections in rounds 2-7 in the 2023 NHL Draft, which starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT on NHL Network: #53 and #64 in the second round, #149 in the fifth round, #181 in the sixth round and #213 in the seventh round.

Visit the Draft Central page on wild.com presented by Xcel Energy for the latest news on the 2023 NHL Draft.