Over at Sportsnet, they posted a quick media scrum with Ryan Strome where he gave his thoughts on being traded, landing in Edmonton, and just how close they are to winning a Stanley Cup.
Up to this point, we haven’t really heard too much from one of the newest Oilers and I think now would be a good time to break down this clip and get a little bit of info out of a guy that many of us don’t really know anything about. Ryan Strome, let us learn about you.
On being traded…
“I’ve never been traded before in my career. One time in junior, but that was my first year.”
One time I traded my own player in NHL ’13 so I guess that’s kinda the same thing. Right? Anybody? *waits for high five* What else?
“I’ve been with the same team for a while and was very familiar with that so a change of scenery will be nice. It will take me out of my comfort zone a little bit.”
After having a solid season two years ago, Strome has had two mediocre campaigns in a row and a chance of pace could be good for the guy. Personally, I really don’t know what to expect from Strome but I’d bet Wanye’s money that he’ll be better than the 30 point guy he was a year ago.
“I’ve had a long summer to try and get ready and I feel good. I’m looking forward to the opportunities ahead.”
I’m pulling for you, brother. We’ll need you.
On McDavid…
Seeing as one of Connor McDavid’s best friends is Ryan Strome’s brother then you’d expect that they know each other at least a little bit.
“(I know him) from being around my house and stuff like that, and watching all the games on TV, I was a pretty big Erie Otters fan for a couple years there – I followed a lot of their games.”
My big takeaway here is that Ryan Strome loves watching hockey so much, and is such a good sibling, that he spent a bunch of times watching junior games on TV feeds that likely looked as though they were shot with a potato. That’s love, man. That’s love.
“The familiarity is there, that’s for sure, and that obviously makes things a little bit easier.”
It goes without saying that knowing people at your new place of employment makes the transition easier, and that goes for any field. The fact that the guy he knows happens to be the best player on the planet and also the team captain should hopefully mean that his transition into the Oilers ‘it’ crowd should be that much easier.If you’re going to know someone on the new team, Connor McDavid is probably the best possible ally a guy can have.
On the Oilers…
One thing about Ryan Strome is that he probably got traded into one of the best situations he possibly could have. If the guy comes in guns blazing then he has the potential to make a bigger impact than some people, myself included, may have initially expected.
“There are some great players there to play with and it’s going to be good. I like the way they play.”
Right from the jump, you know he’s going to land himself in a top-six role, and probably going to get some power play time, which means that he’ll be in a spot to succeed alongside some very good players.
“I watched them a lot in the playoffs and I think they’ve got a great style.”
Hell yeah, they’ve got great style!
“Not only that, I think we’re really close to winning a Stanley Cup and that’s certainly exciting.”
OMG Ryan Strome thinks they’re close to winning and I just felt my mouth start watering. The idea of winning anything at all for that matter is something that Oilers fans haven’t had in a long time, so any time someone talks about them being contenders makes blood rush to my daddy button.
“To jump into a team that’s well on their way is a huge honour and it’s going to be a good opportunity.”
Like I said, I don’t think Strome could have landed in a better spot for his fresh start. Yes, there will be pressure to perform but he’ll also be able to play with some pretty damned good forwards regardless of which line he plays on. That has to be exciting for a guy that’s had a couple of tough seasons in a row.
On where he’ll play…
One of the things that I like about Strome is the fact that he can play more than one position. Anybody that has read my shit with regularity knows how much I love adding centres to the roster and Chiarelli brought in another one in Ryan Strome.
“Not too sure. I think the fact that I can play both positions is definitely beneficial.”
You’re Gord damned right it’s beneficial, Stromer! Remember when Ryan Smyth had to take shifts at centre? Pouliot? Taylor Hall? None of them worked and that’s because the Oilers were trying to pound square pegs into round holes and having a plethora of centremen can only help. What else?
“Look at Todd McLellan’s teams in San Jose and now in Edmonton, I think they have guys all over the lineup that can play centre and wing. Hopefully, that’ll play into my favour.”
Testify! In San Jose, Todd McLellan often played with four centremen in his top-six and that’s an option that looks like it could be a reality as early as this season. More centremen! Go out and get 12 of them, as far as I’m concerned. I love it.
“I’m just going to do my best and fit in wherever I can.”
Check this guy out! Just happy to be here, seems like. Humble like a good Canadian boy.
Glad to have him on the team. I expect he will have a bit of a bounce back year. If he has more fight than Eberle and gets around 3/4 the points Eberle did he will be a solid addition.
Now get Leon signed already. I would hate to see this drag into the preseason like little Jonny did.
Wishing Eberle the best of luck with the Isles. Strome will be a welcome addition. Good skater and good shot, and will be given every opportunity to succeed. Not to mention the salary cap savings! Love the optimism of being close to winning a cup too!
Its imperative that Leon is signed before camp – we cannot have him missing regular season games or even not being up to to speed to start the season.
The start of the season is very important – we have a favourable early schedule and need to take advantage of its. Reggie is already out and if we don’t have a Drai at full speed, we could put ourselves behind the pack very early and have to play catch up.
The playoffs are NOT a lock – I hope the players realize this and aren’t overconfident due to a arrows up season last year.
Todds going to have fun running his blender this year. Can’t wait to see some new line combos at camp. Lots of options. Assuming Leon is there and he better darn well be!
#sign29
Multi tasking (faceted) forwards seem to be a pet passion of Chia and Todd . Oilers certainly have an abundance of them , even more so this season , and thus should be better than last season . Side note : Flames improved for this year , but Oilers will have improved more than their rivals . Intriguing scenario: Beware the Bear of the North , who might get more than the proverbial cup of coffee , and add a dimension Oilers have lacked . Oilers have lots of progressive looking players this season after letting go two regressive ones .
love the versatility the oil have up front these days. hope strome can have a bounce back year
I love Connor and am a huge huge fan. But we have to stop with the best player in the world stuff. Sid showed in the playoffs why he is still the best player in the world. Connor may become the best player in the world as soon as this year but as of right now he is still second best. We Oiler fans are not good at keeping a low profile, we must learn to do that…until we win the cup, THEN GO BUCK WILD!
Who’s Sid?
Crosby/McDavid. Lemieux/Crosby. Gretzky/Lemieux. Lafleur/Gretzky. Orr/Lafleur. Howe/Orr. Richard/Howe…and so it goes.
I doubt the debate was ever Mario and Sid due to them only playing 20 some games together. Wayne was on a whole other level. But the next group of guys, Sid has cracked with Mario, Orr, Howe. We can hope Connor one day cracks that group too. A couple of cups and some scoring titles and mvps will do that. He’s well on his way
Lemieux was every bit on Gretzky’s level. Just as the talk is Connor and Crosby being in class of two, so it was with Gretzky and Lemieux.
Connor is just a better hockey player. So best in the world
Dude you sound like a Connor McDavid denier. 97% of Oilers fans agree he is the best. The debate is settled. Lol
Sidney Crosby is the greatest NHL hockey player in the game today. His successor is deemed to be Conner McDavid by all the pundits (and by the contract just given to him by the Oilers). One wonders what Sidney would be without concussions (and Conner would be without the past broken clavicle). Always the unknown card- injuries. I trust they will both be able to play to their uninjured potential for a long time to come.
Crosby is 30, don’t count on him being the best much longer.
I put as much weight into Brenden Dillon saying the Sharks where the better team as Strome saying “I think we’re really close to winning a Stanley Cup”. Both are off-season media lip service. Something to read in the summer nothing more.
bm is reaching on these things
I hope he is at home right now shooting pucks off a sheet of plywood in his driveway.
BM wrote “watching junior games on TV feeds that likely looked as though they were shot with a potato.” – pure gold!
Your description of watching a junior game that was shot by a “potato”…..terrific….spit out my coffee, and laughing my French fries off. Love the humour.
Awesome. Looking forward to seeing him
Just wait…soon the Calgary trolls will be here. Enjoy this peace and good conversation before it gets turned into cancer by lames fans
Love the enthusiasm, but I would rather hear that quote from someone who had actually been on a Cup team and knew what he was talking about. Oh well, not dwelling on it. Love the enthusiasm.
Strome will have a career year and will be the missing piece on a line with McDavid. Fellow Oiler fans will long forget Eberle when McDavid passes the cup to Strome next June.
Jordan who???
Stromer baby!
I’m always wary about these sorts of interviews. Part of being a pro is always supporting your team but fans suck up every word as gospel. I mean, what’s he supposed to say “I’m just here for the LOL’s”?