The William Strömgren of July 2024 looks almost nothing like his counterpart from one year ago.

Quite frankly, he barely resembles the tall, quiet Swede who went 23 games without a goal to begin his first full American Hockey League season last fall.

In the first two-and-a-half seasons after the Calgary Flames selected Strömgren with the No. 45 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the 6’2″ winger struggled at times to make his presence felt consistently in the AHL, SHL, and Swedish junior ranks.

But after giving fans in Calgary an encouraging look at what he can do in the latter half of the 2023-24 regular season and into the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, Strömgren looks primed to take an enormous step forward in his development as a sophomore with the Wranglers in 2024-25 — and perhaps even at the level beyond that.

Strömgren, 21, was easily the best player on the ice at Winsport throughout the Flames’ 2024 prospect development camp, acting as a model and mentor for the younger players while looking every bit the part of a top prospect in this Calgary system.

Everything Strömgren did on the ice over the three days oozed an amount of confidence we haven’t seen from him in the past, from his goals in the scrimmage on Saturday to his one-on-one skating drills with Danielle Fujita on Thursday. It was more than fitting that the weekend ended with him being handed the Snowy Cup at centre ice.

The fans in attendance at Winsport on Saturday oohed and aahed seemingly every time Strömgren touched the puck, and they weren’t the only ones impressed with what they saw.

“I think he was probably, from [the start of] last year to the end of the year, the guy that took by far the biggest strides,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said Saturday. “You watch him, with the confidence out here, what he’s doing — it doesn’t even look like the same player.

“If he continues to do that, I could see him getting NHL games for sure.”

Strömgren was a force to be reckoned with throughout Saturday’s scrimmage, factoring in on multiple goals and adding another of his own in the shootout. He scored arguably the most satisfying goal of the day in the early stages of the first period, forcing a turnover deep in his own end before advancing the puck up the ice and scoring on the ensuing three-on-two rush.

Much has been said over the years — including by yours truly — about the Flames passing on Logan Stankoven when they selected Strömgren in the second round four drafts ago. Despite his small stature, Stankoven had an immaculate track record with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, where he partnered up regularly with Connor Zary. He’s also already a productive NHLer with the Dallas Stars.

Strömgren might not be as good as Stankoven when all is said and done, but the Flames still look to have a pretty strong prospect on their hands. He has incredible hands and a great shot and is becoming a better skater seemingly every time he sets foot on the ice.

In his final 36 games with the Wranglers in the 2023-24 AHL regular season, Strömgren collected six goals and 23 points. He also became a vastly more prolific shooter, racking up multiple shots in 18 out of his final 50 games after doing so just once in his first 18 contests.

Strömgren also played an instrumental role as the Wranglers defeated the higher-ranked Tucson Roadrunners in the first round of the playoffs, scoring the series-winning goal in the third period of the deciding game.

Between Strömgren, Matvei Gridin, Sam Honzek, Jacob Battaglia, Jakob Pelletier, Aydar Suniev, Andrew Basha, and Matt Coronato, the Flames have put together a sneaky good pool of young wingers. They haven’t used a single top-10 selection to get any of those guys, either, and there’s a very good chance they do end up getting a forward of some kind with one of their own firsts over the next few years.

Aside from Pelletier and Coronato, Strömgren might just be the most NHL-ready of that group. He’ll likely start the 2024-25 season as a top-line forward with the Wranglers, but if the injury bug presents itself at any point during the year, it’s “absolutely” possible — as Conroy put it — that Strömgren is one of the first to get a look.

Don’t sleep on Strömgren. He deserves your attention as a legit prospect for this Flames team, and if you don’t believe it now, there’s a strong possibility he’ll change your mind come October. He’s already changed mine.