Strome ‘super excited’ about move from Islanders to Oilers
CHICAGO Just about every player who has ever been traded to the Edmonton Oilers has gone on and on about how excited he was to be coming to a young, fast and exciting team.
And for a good 10 years there, during one losing season after another, most of them were lying.
But as the Oilers embark on a new era, lead by a pair of young superstars and a state of the art downtown arena, newcomers don’t have to fake it anymore. Ryan Strome certainly isn’t. The 23-year-old former New York Islander was positively giddy about being traded to Edmonton in a Thursday morning swap for Jordan Eberle.
“Super excited, honestly, I was at a loss for words,” said Strome, meeting with reporters at the Oilers hotel in Chicago.
“Other than the emotional aspect of missing some teammates, I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity. Obviously there are a lot of great things going on Edmonton.
“Just from watching them in the playoffs this year I’m really ecstatic about joining the group. I’ve already had a lot of guys reach out to me from the team, I think that says a lot about them.
“I’m really looking forward to it, honestly. I’m just super-excited.”
Strome, like most of the NHL, really started taking notice of the Oilers in the post-season. It was at that point, watching them take down San Jose and push Anaheim to seven games, that he realized their Stanley Cup window is about to open. It he thinks it will be cool to be a part of that.
“I remember sitting in my basement watching the playoffs and I was like: ‘holy, these guys are good players.’ Connor (McDavid) and Leon (Draisaitl), the way they distribute the puck and the way they can skate, their skill is just exceptional.
“Obviously there’s a lot of opportunity there. I’m going to come in and do my best and add to what’s going on there because there are a lot of good things.”
Strome, who’s in Chicago to watch his brother Matthew get drafted this weekend, was in the air when he found out he’d been moved.
“Funny how it works out. It happens in the middle of a flight here. A little bit of a whirlwind, but honestly, tons to look forward to and I can’t wait to get started.”
He’ll have a familiar face in the dressing room when he reports for camp in September, too, given that McDavid played with Strome’s younger brother Dylan for two seasons in Erie.
“He’s been at my house a bunch of times,” laughed Ryan.
“He and my brother are very close. They were Snapchatting each other on the way here. He reached out to me already. He’s a great kid. If he’s not the best player in the league already he’s right up there. That’s a cool connection. It’s nice knowing a couple of familiar faces.”
Strome is coming off a 13-goal, 30-point season, which is much less than he was expecting to be delivering at this stage of his career after being drafted fifth overall in 2011. But he, like Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, thinks that is all about to change.
“The last little while of the season before I got hurt last year (breaking his wrist in late March) I felt really good. We had a new coach in there, Doug Weight, and he was great for me. A little disappointed I got hurt, but I was starting to feel really good, it was the best I felt in a couple of years. I was trending in the right direction.”
Being able to play with McDavid or Draisaitl, who can make players around them better, should help his cause, too.
Just the thought of it has already added fuel to his inner fire.
“Honestly, I feel like I have a jump in my step coming here,” he said. “You’re always excited, playing in the NHL is such a privilege, to be moved somewhere with a different opportunity is very exciting. I never really pictured myself getting traded, I’ve never really been moved from that many teams before. It’s obviously new to be, but great opportunity very excited and I just can’t say enough about how much I’m looking forward to the season now.”