Flames select William Strömgren at 45th overall
By Ryan Pike
2 years agoThe Calgary Flames have made their first selection of Day 2 of the 2021 NHL Draft. With their second round pick, 45th overall, they have selected Swedish winger William Strömgren.
A product of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Strömgren is a left winger listed at 6’3″ and 175 pounds by Central Scouting. He’s ranked 46th by FC Hockey and 14th among European skaters by Central Scouting.
Strömgren spent 2020-21 split between three levels of MODO Hockey’s organization – their U18 club, their U20 club and their HockeyAllsvenskan club – and on a loan to HockeyEttan’s Örnsköldsvik HF, his hometown team. He had 18 points in 14 U20 games and 12 points in 11 HockeyEttan games. He also played with Sweden’s Under-18 Worlds team, capturing bronze. He’s contracted to Rögle BK for the next three seasons, but since there’s a transfer agreement between the NHL and Sweden there are mechanisms to get him out of the deal early if desired.
FC Hockey’s Derek Neumeier had this report on Strömgren’s performance in a game in December:
Strömgren is a big winger who has a lot of impressive tools, but is still learning to master all of them. He’ll make one or two or three impressive moves in a row to put himself in a dangerous scoring situation, only to flub the finale in some way or another. He’s a big winger who moves well for his size. Balance and power are good. Keeps a nice wide stance when slowing down in the offensive zone to protect the puck. Can play quickly when moving in the cycle or while stationary and moving pucks around with his teammates Great release on his shot, hard and accurate, and his passes are often that way as well. Can make the no-look cross-ice passes through traffic. Can also make the occasional flashy move handling the puck. Some shifts his motor is great, going in for an offensive chance, doubling back for the puck, and then going in for another chance. However, his effort level is inconsistent. Can coast or skate leisurely a little too often, especially on the backcheck. He also seems to have issues with his hand-eye coordination, as there were multiple instances in this game where he failed to receive easy and wide-open passes. You’d also like to see him use his frame better, because right now he’s not physical at all. Despite his faults, Strömgren brings a very interesting package of abilities to the table, and could be a special player in a few years with enough experience and the right development.
In other words: he’s talented and toolsy, but needs to work on the defensive details of his game and his consistency.
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A June 2003 born player, Strömgren is eligible for the World Juniors in each of the next two seasons.
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