Being back in the Twin Cities for the summer is nothing new for Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel. But this time, come September, he’ll be working to stay.

Stramel, 21, was the Wild’s first-round pick in the 2023 draft and is a candidate to make his NHL debut in October when Minnesota’s training camp concludes.

In truth, if not for some bad luck in his final collegiate game, the Rosemount native might already have worn a Wild jersey during last season’s playoffs.

His final collegiate season at Michigan State was a breakout year. Playing for a talented Spartans team that won its third consecutive Big Ten Conference title, Stramel tied for the team lead in assists with 25. He made an impressive pairing with Porter Martone, who jumped right from college to the NHL, where he was a playoff sensation with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Bad break vs. Badgers

While Martone is the early betting favorite for NHL rookie of the year next season, Stramel suffered a devastating setback in March, which has him working his way back to health as the summer progresses.

In an NCAA regional final against Wisconsin — where Stramel began his collegiate career before transferring to East Lansing for two seasons — the 6-foot-3 center blocked a Badgers shot and limped to the bench with what turned out to be a broken ankle. His college career was over, as was the Spartans’ season a few hours later when Wisconsin won in overtime on their way to a national runner-up finish.

When Stramel signed a three-year contract with the Wild a few days later, he was already talking about finishing his communications degree at Michigan State and getting his body back into shape as soon as he could shed the walking boot that was a part of his life in the late spring.

When he met with the media at Wild development camp last week, Stramel walked into the interview at TRIA Rink without a boot or hint of a limp and told reporters it was a joy to wear skates for the first time in months.

“I just started on ice, but (have) been able to train in the gym for last month, month-and-a-half — since the season ended,” he said. “It’s been feeling good. Been making a ton of progress and feel like I’m starting to get in great shape and excited to be able to push the ice here in a couple weeks.”

Successful switch

After leaving his Minnesota hometown to play for Adam Nightingale at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Michigan, Stramel committed to play for Tony Granato in Madison. The big center did enough as a freshman to catch the Wild’s eye and was the 21st overall pick in the draft three years ago.

But Granato had been fired at Wisconsin a month or so before the draft and the Badgers replaced him with Mike Hastings, who had worked wonders at Minnesota State. For a variety of reasons, Stramel didn’t fit in the Hastings system. In 34 games as a sophomore, he notched three goals and five assists and was deemed a bust by a hefty portion of the Wild fanbase.

With Nightingale now coaching Michigan State, Stramel entered the transfer portal and transferred to East Lansing. But there was more to his resurgence than changing colors.

“Charlie put a ton of work in off the ice. He dropped his body fat percentage, he put on good muscle. … He’s an unreal athlete,” Spartans assistant coach Jared DeMichiel said. “We talked to him when he went into the portal and said, ‘Just because you switch your jersey doesn’t mean everything’s gonna be OK and everything’s gonna be perfect. You’ve gotta commit yourself.’ And he looked himself in the mirror and knew he needed to be better.”

Playing with Martone as a senior, and with Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard as a junior, helped. But Stramel proved to be significantly more than just a good linemate. Using his size and skill, Stramel earned All-Big Ten first-team honors and was named one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker last season.

By season’s end, the first-round-bust label was gone.

“On the ice, he is uber competitive. I think he’s sneaky creative, and for us he just grew where he took a ton of pride in his play without the puck,” DeMichiel said. “With the puck, he could just play all situations and was detailed, but (he) also led to a ton of offense.”

Debut delayed

Had he been healthy when the Wild started the playoffs, it’s realistic to think that Stramel would have gotten into a game or two, especially when second-line center Joel Eriksson-Ek was lost to injury and unavailable for Round 2 versus Colorado.

Now, a healthy Stramel will stay home in September to compete for a roster spot on a team on the upswing, and perpetually in need of centers that can dominate in the faceoff circle and in front of the net. That is assuming that his career doesn’t take Stramel back to Michigan via a trade.

With the rumors of the Wild dealing for Red Wings center Dylan Larkin swirling, Stramel has been mentioned as a prospect that could be part of a deal. He said last week he’s trying to focus on what he can control, but he acknowledged that it’s difficult.

“I try not to buy into much of that, even the social media stuff in general,” Stramel said. “Yeah, if it’s gonna be out there. You’re gonna see it even though you don’t want to, but do what you gotta do. There’s nothing really I can control, except keep training and get ready to go for the season.”

He was unavailable on the ice, but Stramel still traveled with the team he had cheered for as a child, and he found an even deeper hunger to be a part of future success in Minnesota.

“It was pretty cool to see,” he said of the playoffs. “Obviously, not the end goal for them, but it was pretty cool to see some of the games and … be a supporter. I mean, I’ve been a fan of this team my whole life, so to see them make a run this year was pretty cool. And I hope to help that out in the future.”