William Stromgren has worked on building his skill, confidence and consistency in pro hockey since coming to the Calgary Wranglers two seasons ago. In his third and final season of his entry level contract, eyes were on him to show what kind of player he is on a night to night basis and if he’d be ready for an NHL look.

Expectations

Stromgren wasn’t overly impressed with his season in 2024-25. Despite his career numbers, he still felt there was more he wanted to show in his game. He finished the year with 70 games played, 14 goals and 35 assists for a total of 49 points. Stromgren would be quite streaky over the season going three or four games straight with points then be off the score sheet for the next three or four following.

Performance

Right out of the gate, William Stromgren was an established set up guy on the first or second lines. He’d be feeding passes to Rory Kerins or Dryden Hunt to help the team find success in their first month or so of the season. His puck-handling abilities were some of his standout traits and there were times he just barely missed on a chance for a highlight reel goal. But not always. He still had some of note throughout the year.

Paige Siewert

@thathockeygirly

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William Stromgren goes through four skaters on this goal. Catches them sleeping and ties this game up at one a side

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1:34 AM · Feb 8, 2026

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His December was outstanding as he put up 14 points in an 11 game stretch leading into early January. Stromgren’s strong start to the year earned him a call-up to the Flames in mid-January. At the time, Hunter Brzustewicz was with the Flames too so he got to share that experience with a good friend of his when his family couldn’t make it from Sweden due to a snowstorm. He ended up getting a three game look with the Flames and didn’t have any points in that run. His plus/minus through those games finished at minus-1. His ice time was quite limited in the NHL so he didn’t really get to showcase the traits he found success with in the AHL.

When he returned from his call-up, he went on another points run in February with 11 points in eight games. This run earned him an AHL player of the week award towards the end of the month.

Stromgren finished this season with a similar pace to his season prior with 66 games played with the Wranglers, 11 goals and 36 assists for a total of 47 points. His call up with the Flames took some AHL games away from him but he still ended up second in assists on the team and fourth overall in scoring. Where he brought a little bit more to his game was on the physical side. He’s not one to fight but he was noticeably in more scrums and able to hold his own. As a 6”3’ forward, that bodes well on this team. His PIMs jumped significantly this year, going from 16 minutes the last two seasons to 52 this season.

When he evaluated where he felt like his game grew throughout the course of the season, he said:

“I always want to say my protection. I’m really good at keeping my body out of someone’s way. But then I think I got better or I would like to say that I got better at pace of play. That was a big standpoint from the guys up there (in the NHL) and just keep my feet moving and stuff like that. When you get up there, it’s so much better and you just kind of have to be at the same speed to even succeed in that area.”

Outlook

While Stromgren would’ve loved another look with the Flames at some point in the season, he kept a grounded mindset about how he went about his pro life. Stromgren said:

“It’s cliche, I always say. I think just play for my next shift. Don’t look at it too long or too far ahead. You kind of live in the moment. You kind of have to earn every day until you’re stationary in the NHL. To get out there too, you always gotta be consistent. Like do all these things that help you get up there. But then you also gotta be ready for that chance when you get it. So, I think just trying to be a pro every day, do your best and then wherever it takes you, you be ready for it.”

Stromgren is now a restricted free agent this summer and still shows he can keep up with other cusp guys on his own team, but have the Flames seen enough of him to determine whether or not they extend him? Stromgren undeniably has skill and if he is able to produce as he did on some of his stretches last season, he’s going to be hard to ignore.