Aug 19, 2026 · 12 min · 16 segments
The Minnesota Wild just got ranked by the Athletic and were given praise by ranking the top Wild prospects but when it compares to the remainder of the NHL, things are not as good as they seem. Kirk…
Kirk DayHost
Now, I wanna go into an Athletic article from Corey Pronman, who ranked, of course, the Minnesota Wild as twenty-fourth in NHL pipeline rankings for twenty twenty-six, but the player rankings that he gave were actually a little bit more important than the actual number twenty-four ranking in the NHL.
I wouldn't worry too much about that because we know we have traded a lot of those guys recently for this team to be better right now.
But if we go ahead and look at the rankings right here, one through eight, Charlie Stramel, Daniil Yarov, Cade Lamire, Hunter Hey, Adam Anderson, Carter Clippenstein, Adam Benak, and Filip Ruzicka.
This is a very good list for what the Wild have to deal with, because obviously, we moved a lot of these guys.
We didn't have the greatest picks over the last couple of years 'cause this team has been consistently good.
So considering that you're looking at a name like Adam Benak at number seven, this is not a bad list to consider whatsoever, and especially some of these guys who've been draft- drafted in this most recent draft.
But I wanna cover a few players in specific, because each of these guys have given, have been given, at least from Corey Pronman, some, you know, benefits, what their best assets of the game are.
He is the guy right now that we have to figure out what the plan is going to be for him, where he's gonna play, what set of, you know, skills he has, and you see right here that he is ranked number one in the Wild organization, drafted number twenty-one in twenty twenty-three, certainly has climbed the rankings significantly over the past couple of seasons.
He's a very, you know, good player, smart player, but his compete level is high-end.
Now, this is something that, you know, is going to be, I think, a little bit biased for us, first of all, but I also do think that when we're considering a full ranking from every single player under the age of twenty-three, a lot of this may be pretty, you know, thought out quickly.
But when you're looking at Charlie Stramel, considering especially, you know, what he's done in Michigan State over the past couple of seasons, he should be, uh, you know, at least NHL average or a little above that, in my opinion.
You see Corey Pronman here saying this: "Stramel's one of the best players in the Big Ten and played a big role on one of the top teams in college.
His pure offense may never wow you, but he's a big, fast, and h- a highly physical center who shows a reliable two-way game against bigger players.
Stramel's good hands creates a lot of havoc and chances around the net and has enough puck play to secondary offense at the next level.
He projects as a hard-to-play-against second-line center who can play in a variety of situations." Now, right now, at least we know that Charlie Stramel's role is uncertain whether he will be, you know, a top-line center, a second-line center, third-line center.
Nobody really knows just yet, but I think when we see what he's done Especially last season, forty-four points in thirty-seven games for a twenty-one-year-old at Michigan State.
So although he is first here in the rankings, I don't think he got the credit he deserved.
Now, I wanna go into an Athletic article from Corey Pronman, who ranked, of course, the Minnesota Wild as twenty-fourth in NHL pipeline rankings for twenty twenty-six, but the player rankings that he gave were actually a little bit more important than the actual number twenty-four ranking in the NHL.
I wouldn't worry too much about that because we know we have traded a lot of those guys recently for this team to be better right now.
But if we go ahead and look at the rankings right here, one through eight, Charlie Stramel, Daniil Yarov, Cade Lamire, Hunter Hey, Adam Anderson, Carter Clippenstein, Adam Benak, and Filip Ruzicka.
This is a very good list for what the Wild have to deal with, because obviously, we moved a lot of these guys.
We didn't have the greatest picks over the last couple of years 'cause this team has been consistently good.
So considering that you're looking at a name like Adam Benak at number seven, this is not a bad list to consider whatsoever, and especially some of these guys who've been draft- drafted in this most recent draft.
But I wanna cover a few players in specific, because each of these guys have given, have been given, at least from Corey Pronman, some, you know, benefits, what their best assets of the game are.
He is the guy right now that we have to figure out what the plan is going to be for him, where he's gonna play, what set of, you know, skills he has, and you see right here that he is ranked number one in the Wild organization, drafted number twenty-one in twenty twenty-three, certainly has climbed the rankings significantly over the past couple of seasons.
He's a very, you know, good player, smart player, but his compete level is high-end.
Now, this is something that, you know, is going to be, I think, a little bit biased for us, first of all, but I also do think that when we're considering a full ranking from every single player under the age of twenty-three, a lot of this may be pretty, you know, thought out quickly.
But when you're looking at Charlie Stramel, considering especially, you know, what he's done in Michigan State over the past couple of seasons, he should be, uh, you know, at least NHL average or a little above that, in my opinion.
You see Corey Pronman here saying this: "Stramel's one of the best players in the Big Ten and played a big role on one of the top teams in college.
His pure offense may never wow you, but he's a big, fast, and h- a highly physical center who shows a reliable two-way game against bigger players.
Stramel's good hands creates a lot of havoc and chances around the net and has enough puck play to secondary offense at the next level.
He projects as a hard-to-play-against second-line center who can play in a variety of situations." Now, right now, at least we know that Charlie Stramel's role is uncertain whether he will be, you know, a top-line center, a second-line center, third-line center.
Nobody really knows just yet, but I think when we see what he's done Especially last season, forty-four points in thirty-seven games for a twenty-one-year-old at Michigan State.
So although he is first here in the rankings, I don't think he got the credit he deserved.
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